


Good Morning New York!

by Verthril



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 08:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3319994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verthril/pseuds/Verthril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all finally coming together, everything Marie's been struggling for so she could give her daughter the kind of life she deserves. But isn't it just like him to go walking back into her life at the worst but maybe the best moment. Now if she can just keep her best friend/roommate/Auntie of her daughter from killing Logan while she figures out her own feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.

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"You're sure?"

I hated having to ask for yet another favour when I already owed her so many, when I owed her so much. Fighting the urge to bite my bottom lip lest I smudge my makeup, I carried on looking for my flats under the sofa and swore I saw the dust bunnies trying to discover fire. Evolutionary dead end one, dust bunnies zero.

"Pfft, I got six different people that owe me for covered shifts that I can go collect on. I also got dirt on whose banging who in the broom closet, which just so happens to include a love triangle, so it's no problemo." Jubilee assured, flipping pancakes in the cast iron skillet.

"I'm sorry Lee, I had today booked off for weeks now. It's just that there's this bug going around the office."

Hearing foot steps behind me, my flour dusted friend stood over me with my flats dangling from her finger. Fighting against an urge to hug her that would undo all my preparations for work, I settled for lightly butting our heads together with a silly smile shared between us.

"I got this Roguey, one fill in chaperone for a trip to the museum. It'll be just like old times 'cept now I don't have to worry about getting gettin' paftastic." Jubilee laughed, wiggling her fingers at me.

It had taken a long time before she couldn't laugh about what happened to her, especially around the Fourth of July, but if there was one thing I learned about her over the years it was that she was a survivor. Two peas in a pod, that's us, taking what life threw at us and making spiked lemonade.

"I left money on the counter for the food court, don't let her go eating crap...ah hell, look who I'm talkin' to. Just make sure there's some facsimile o' healthy food in whatever you two get."

"Pickles count as a veg right?" Jubilee asked, laughing as I swatted her with my flats.

"Anna May, are ya done in the shower yet girl!?"

"Five more minutes Mom! I'm using some of Auntie Jae's stuff!" My daughter dearest shouted back.

I had a few questions about just what _stuff_ that might be, but they were questions that had to wait as I noticed the time. The owner of the _stuff_ in question had snuck back to flipping pancakes the moment I had my back turned, piling them high on a pair of plates. I had Jubilee to thank for the eggwhite omelette and oatmeal I had for breakfast, owed her for so many meals that were ready and waiting for me when I got home from the office with absolutely no energy to cook.

"If my baby girl has pink hair when I get home, Ima gonna kill ya Lee." I shouted over my shoulder as I rushed out of our cramped apartment.

My baby, my darling, my happy accident. Anna May D'Ancanto, now twelve years old and just the kind of handful I remembered being back when I was her age. Completely X Factor negative, nowadays it was as simple as heading to the pharmacist and picking up a kit. Twelve years ago I had to ask some favours of people I didn't think I had the right or gumption to go asking but did so just the same. Back when it should have been baby and me and Daddy makes three.

Taking the stairs so no one would have to see me dabbing my eyes to keep from messing up my makeup, everything had to be perfect. It was my big chance, time to break a leg as they said in show business. The news van sat waiting for me out front and I grabbed shotgun with my camera man at the wheel. Coffee sat in the cup holder just how I took it, black with two sugars.

"Thanks for the brew."

"Hey, gotta kiss up to a potential future boss lady somehow." Josh laughed, pounding back his own as we sat in traffic.

"Thanks just the same, my nerves are wrecked." I admitted, the coffee doing wonders after behaving myself at breakfast with a nice glass of grapefruit juice.

"No problem. I'm not kidding by the way, Trish asked me who I wouldn't mind working with, told me to treat today like an audition."

"Beg pardon?"

I mean I knew today was my shot to show my stuff to the station, my make or break moment between doing all the leg work behind the scenes or getting out in front of the camera. But the way Josh was talking was as if I was replacing Trish, which was crazy.

"I just saying that if everything Trish told me plays out like she's betting on, that we might be getting a new morning reporter while she goes National. But hey...you didn't hear that from me."

Swallowing scalding hot coffee so I wouldn't spit it all over the dash and my one and only designer blouse, I looked at Josh with tears in my eyes to see him wink at me. If I hadn't felt overwhelmed before, then this bit of confidential gossip almost had me a wreck if it didn't mean my shot at everything I had been working for all these years.

"Mums the word." I croaked, slowly slipping my coffee just to wet my lips and ready my lines as I had memorized them from the email I got shortly after the phone call that had completely rearranged my day.

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"Miss D'Ancanto?"

"We've secretly switched your mom with moi, lets see if your teach notices." Auntie Jae whispered before throwing her arm up like we would for attendance. "Present!"

My friends looked at me fighting the huge grins they had when they saw who boarded the bus with me. Not that Mom ain't cool, but Auntie Jae is the coolest and best Aunt ever. I had her to thank for my new do that almost broke the dress code to the point that Missus Singh looked like she was about to pull out the rule book or call the principal for a second opinion.

"I got a note!" Missus Singh stared at Auntie Jae like she was one of the slime moulds we were studying in biology class.

"Miss...?"

"Lee, Jubilation Lee, but you can call me Jae." Auntie Jae cheerfully introduced herself.

"You understand the rules, yes?"

"Don't feed them after midnight? Oh and fire extinguishers aren't toys." Auntie Jae loved an audience and most of my class were laughing at her antics even if we didn't know half of whatever she was talking about.

Rolling her eyes, Missus Singh took the permission slip and walked down the aisle to the head of the bus. That was Auntie Jae One, Public Education Zero in my books. Killing time to the museum playing games on my phone and catching up on my Facebook, a lot of the boys spent time chatting up Auntie Jae who totally just thought they're being cute even if most of the girls are glaring at them for being completely dense idiots.

Attendance taken out front, we're all broken down into groups with Auntie Jae leading me and mine. Rolling my eyes as Missus Singh hands out our homework for the trip, Auntie Jae just winks at me but I'm still worried as I see her just staring at the map while the rest of the groups head off out into the museum.

"Alright maggots! Front and centre!" Auntie Jae barks out like some drill sergeant.

"Now, despite how it may look I am a fully functioning adult who is going to Culinary College by way of evening classes. So that totes means studying no matter how much it sucks. That being said, that doesn't mean this has to be some lame visit to the museum."

Crushed as we all looked at first, I knew my Auntie Jae well enough to know she was playing for the crowd, and the wink she threw me said everything I needed to know that she wasn't gonna be any less than her cool self. Putting on my poker face taught to me by Mom, I didn't know knowing how to hustle a card game wasn't normal until I got in trouble for teaching my first grade classmates how to play blackjack and win when we were supposed to be playing Go Fish.

"You all got your text books?"

The question was met with groans as we all pulled out our tablets. Auntie Jae snatched up mine and started looking through it, swiping through it like she would her cook books at home.

"Wow, way to make me feel old, back in my day they were actual, ya know, books. Next I'll be tellin' ya how I used to have to walk to school up hill both ways in a snow storm but half of that was because I had this one teacher."

Shuddering as she kept reading along what we've been studying in class, Auntie Jae looked at us again as if she's really seeing us and now she's got a look on her face like that time I asked why Mom had condoms in her dresser drawer, that sure as heck taught me not to go snooping for birthday presents let me tell you.

"Oh my god I'm like, two decades older than you all! I don't even get ID'ed anymore, 'cept for that time I was dressed up as a Catholic School Girl for Halloween." Auntie Jae moaned.

Suddenly the male body of my group was looking up to my Aunt in a different light and I was right along with the female body in getting ready to slap them all upside the head. Hearing a cough and seeing a raised hand, I was too late to save my one classmate.

"Missus Lee?" Toby asked polite as he could be.

"And we have a volunteer to read the chapter on The Hundred Year War while we go check out some cool armour and swords. Now remember folks, you stick the pointy end in the other guy. I'll handle the rest of the boring stuff unless anyone else reminds me I'm not twenty anymore, got it?" Auntie Jae asked.

We all nodded our heads, especially Toby, we all got it.

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Sitting in the back of the news van and not caring if my makeup was ruined, I was a complete nervous wreck. It was over, I blew it, there was no way I'd ever have another shot with how I bombed my first and probably last live segment. Checking my phone to see a slew of new texts from friends, I could only imagine they had just watched my piece and cringed. I couldn't bear to even open one, the words ' _I'm not even supposed to be here today_ ' ringing in my ears as voiced by Dante.

"You know who you remind me of?" Josh asked, poking his head in to where I had been hiding.

Burying my face in my hands and shaking my head, I couldn't even bear to see his cheerful face likely trying to tell me it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. It was my big chance and I stumbled through it, forgetting my lines and having to ad lib every question I was supposed to ask complete with that awkward giggle I did when I was nervous.

"Trish, day one. Man, we got so wasted that night figuring we wouldn't have a job come morning, she couldn't even believe she had a day two to do completely hung over." Josh said, his voice painted nostalgic as I felt the van shift.

Peeking out from between my fingers, I saw him sitting on the back bumper drinking his coffee looking lost in thought. This was Trish Tilby's personal camera man, trying to cheer me up. From the safe place behind my hands I saw him tilt his head and offer me a smile that said so many things at once I wanted to cry all over again.

"You say that like I got a day two coming?" I croaked.

All it took for my safe place to come tumbling down like the walls of Jerico was a phone tossed at me, catching it while glaring at Josh who just laughed at me. Looking at it, there was a pile of texts just like my own and as I read through them it was like looking beyond all the makeup and professionalism to see the woman beneath it all.

"I got it, it's not _quote unquote_ official but you know I know how to read between the lines. Drinks on me!" It was a text from Trish to Josh that completely stunned me.

"You're invited by the way, Trish wants to give her replacement some advice. Oh, and I hope you're not doing anything for lunch cause we're both getting treated to it by the boss. He's gotta fill you in on tomorrow's segment." Josh said cheerfully, having another long swig of his coffee.

"You, you mean _Lets Do Lunch_ lunch?" I asked with a stutter.

"Oh my god I gotta text Jubilee! I gotta text my daughter! Holy shit, I got a Day Two!"

"Why don't I go get a coffee for my new boss lady, that way we can toast the start of a beautiful friendship."

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"He had it coming to him!"

Well, Auntie Jae had it right that this wasn't no boring trip to the museum. Sitting with the rest of my group, we watched security try to talk her down from beating senseless some hairy dude with a fire extinguisher. It was around that point that Toby whispered to me how he was glad we weren't in the Arms and Armour section anymore. After seeing what Auntie Jae could do with a Chefs Knife I had to agree.

"Look, I already said I'm not goin' ta go pressin' charges. She ain't lyin' in that the last time we saw one another it wasn't quite friendly." Hairy dude was trying to tell the security guards, as in the plural form being as in it took three to pull Auntie Jae off him.

"If I could I get your name Sir, we'll try and get this sorted out." Security Guard A asked.

"James Logan Howlett." Hairy dude said, rubbing his head where Auntie Jae cold cocked him with the butt end of the fire extinguisher.

"What, 'Don't call me Mister' ain't good enough for you now?" Auntie Jae spat.

Security Guards B and C looked to be making sure there wasn't anything that could be used as a weapon in easy reach. Guard A looked between Hairy Dude and Auntie Jae in that way I had seen police do on those TV shows full of ' _We're going to a Domestic Dispute_ '. Thing is I know Auntie Jae ain't dating atm because Mom has tried to set her up so many times, and after one conversation between Mom and me I found out why sometimes those people were women too instead of just men. Easy ten points on a sex ed test thanks to that talk.

"Anyone got some gum for her ta chew ta shut her up so we can get this over with?" Hairy dude growled, looking at us all in askance, go triple word score the last time I played Scrabble with Mom to help with my English Classes.

"Oh you are so lucky I can't paf your ass anymore." Auntie Jae growled right back.

Hell if I know what a Paf is, I always took it to be some joke between Mom and her about kicking someone's ass, but that's when I see Hairy Dude look at her without any of the growly attitude he's been putting up this whole time. Thank god I hadn't been chewing gum cause I'd probably be choking on it when I saw him wiggle his fingers at her, hand in your man card now please.

But it was the look Auntie Jae had that I found out Paf must have meant something more, because all the fight was knocked out of her, looking ready to be breaking down and cry. The guards let her go but kept close, looking plenty awkward.

"If all parties involved agree to not bludgeon the other, can you boys give us a minute?" Hairy dude asked, in that sort of way people ask only to be polite as not to outright say get lost.

The rest of the group joined the security dudes, but hell if I'm leaving some Hairy Dude with my only Auntie who is all kinds of trying not to cry. I slip in for a big hug which is easy because we're just around the same height for now. Hairy Dude is chewing on a pen like it just said bad stuff about his own Momma, that or he's nic fitting hard.

"I'm sorry kid." Hairy dude said so softly it makes my chest ache.

Auntie Jae buries her face in my shoulder and I can hear she's crying now, not just tears but out right whimpering. I hug her hard like I would Mom those times she talked about Dad, the Daddy I never knew not because he didn't want to know me, but because he just couldn't be there.

"I'm so fucking sick of hearing that Logan, everybody's so fucking sorry. Why the hell should I go expecting life to be any different, the jokes always on me in the end. Surprise, you're a freak. Oh, ya like that huh, well try this on fer size..." Auntie Jae hisses.

Over her shoulder I can see all the kids that had been following behind Hairy Dude, aka Logan. They're all sporting uniforms with an X over a coat of arms that stinks of Private School. They're starting to chat up my group, boys talking to boys, some boys hitting up girls, and girls giggling at some of the boys that are too cool to be hanging out in a group.

"How's Marie doing?" Hairy Dude asks.

If it pleases the Court I will admit I knew Auntie Jae didn't need a fire extinguisher to go beating up some dude that must have had an easy hundred pounds on her. Auntie Jae apparently used to do gymnastics and is way keen on yoga nowadays which means she's pretty bendy. That being said even I was surprised that she could kick him under his jaw to follow through with one to his _genitalia_ as we'd say in biology class.

Well, at least I'll have a story for why I'm getting suspended this time. Now I gotta ask just how the H E and Double Hockey sticks does he know Mom?

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	2. Chapter 2

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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"So, uniforms now huh? I guess that explains the dress shirt and tie, here I thought it was laundry day or they stopped making flannel."

Auntie Jae has calmed down a lot since the scene with the security guards, calm enough to chill in the food court. Hairy Dude Howlett managed to talk down Missus Linder from calling Mom and kicking Auntie Jae off the field trip. She totally was blushing when he did this whole eyebrow thing that left me needing the mind bleach.

"Drew the line at a jacket." Hairy dude says, rocking a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves that have his very muscular forearms on display that are doing things to me that we talked about in Sex Ed.

Seems that was the right thing to say as Auntie Jae is laughing, sort of soft and quiet but I'm happy enough now that I'm not worried she's going to try for a third attempt on his life. Probably a good thing as I don't think even he'd have enough mojo to talk Missus Linder from calling the cops on Auntie Jae if she flipped out again, which of course has me wondering just how she knows him in the first place.

My phone might be on silent but the things going crazy in my jacket, I'm sure I'm gonna be the most popular girl in school tomorrow with how fast this gossip must be spreading, and Becky Miss Silver Spoon up her...

"Asshole." Auntie Jae growls back trying to hold onto her anger.

"You still haven't answered my question after those two freebies."

If there's one thing I know it's stalling and that's what Auntie Jae is doing while checking her phone as a text comes in. I wonder if I make a face like that when I'm expecting it to be Mom ready to lay down the law, all scrunched up and annoyed, but suddenly Auntie Jae is straight up slack jawed in shock.

"Holy shit!" Auntie Jae shouts, shoving her phone in my face so quick I nearly fall outta my chair trying to duck getting hit.

"Holy shit!"

If Missus Linder were here I'd so be getting detention for that, but I wouldn't even care. It's from Mom and it's nothing bad, in fact it's amazing!

"She did it! She finally did it! You go Roguey!" Auntie Jae and me and dancing around like a couple of loons as Mom would say, but we couldn't even care for how awesome that text was.

Auntie Jae is the only one who calls her that, it's just their thing leftover from their boarding school days. Course Mom just calls her Lee, or Idjit depending on the circumstance.

"My mom's gonna be on TV!" I shout at the top of my lungs, digging through my school bag for my tablet so I can go hit up her stations website and check it out.

Hairy Dude is looming over us as we sit there watching it with entree salads, damn if he's taller than he looks when he's right up behind you, props to Auntie Jae for landing that kick. But there's Mom looking hot chatting up some dude for her segment with a giggling now and again. But not just any giggle, it's that _Giggle_ with a capital _Oh God_ , like when we're at the dog park and she's flirting up some cute guy that's got her all nervous. Well, considering it's all Live and she's filling in for Trish the Dish Tilby I guess Mom has a right to be nervous.

"She looks good, mature." Hairy Dude says.

I'm now totally looking up at him like _What the Hell man?_ , he looks like he coulda gone to boarding school Auntie Jae and Mom, no way he's even thirty. He just does that eyebrow thing and I reply with rolled eyes and go back to watching Mom rock it, nervous giggle and all.

"Imagine that Logan, we grew up, living the adventures of Single Mom and her plucky sidekick Auntie Jubilee." Auntie Jae snaps not even looking at him.

Eyebrow thing aside, dude's got the loom down cold and I'm trying not to look up at him, just stealing peeks from the reflection in my tablet. Auntie Jae's muttering the kind of cuss words that had Mom wash her mouth out after I picked up a couple of them back when I was six. Hell is totes cool since it's biblical, but Bitch is use at my own discretion, mostly I save it for when someone's getting catty with Mom.

"Her and the Cajun?" Dude who shall not be looked at asks.

Auntie Jae closes her eyes with clenched fists, that's more something Mom does when she's counting to ten to keep from blowing up. History, thy name is Auntie Jae, Hairy Dude and Mom for three, and I'm wondering what kind they all got.

"You got no right to judge asshole." Auntie Jae snaps.

"Looks like I got proved right in the end." Dude who doesn't know when to shut up adds just having to have the last word, chomping down on that pen that was bad mouthing his mom.

Yoga and Gymnastics ain't got nothing on whatever Auntie Jae does next, I mean one second she's there with me watching Mom sign off, next she has a fist poised right at Hairy Dude and he looks I dunno...impressed? He doesn't look scared, which is what me and most everyone in the food court is.

"I got one question for you asshole, what would the Cure do to you? Guess you won't have to find out, but me and Remy did. Fucking thought it was a drive by..." Auntie Jae grinds out through gritted teeth.

I'm scared for another reason now, I'm hearing something I was always promised to be told when I was older. I know the name of my Dad because it's etched in stone, we visit him a lot when we all just need someone to talk to, he's good that way because he's a great listener and never interrupts. Remy LeBeau, Beloved Father, my Daddy who couldn't be there but I know he's always watching over me.

Auntie Jae always called him the Ragin' Cajun when she told me stories about him and I'm crying as I put two and two together. Up in Heaven Daddy might be, but no one is gonna go talking shit about him. Mom always told me if I ever had to raise a fist in anger against anyone that the cheap shots were the best, so I kick Hairy Dude while he's down, 'cept Auntie Jae makes it look easy cause I think I just broke something.

"Just do us all a favour Logan and do what you do best, hit the road and don't look back." Auntie Jae croaks.

We don't even wait for Missus Singh to tell us we're in shit, Auntie Jae leads the way to the exit. I can't see where we're going for all my tears, I'm just happy to know it's away because today just turned into both the best day ever and the worst.

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"To the new face of Good Morning New York! Our own Marie D'Ancanto!

I still can't believe it, it's gotta be some dream. But as someone else takes me into a hug to congratulate me I know it's really, really happening. Lunch was just unreal enough, sitting with my boss and his boss as they fill me in on everything that's going to go on tomorrow. It's just some feel good piece, Trish herself will be there to say her fond farewells and pass off the mic like a torch for me to carry, but to me it's everything I've been working for all these years.

The party's an impromptu event but the bar is packed, I so owe Jubilee another favour for holding down the fort and putting my Anna May to bed. By the way the drinks are flowing, it looks like Day Two is a tradition in the making and I'll be just as hung over as Trish was. It's a good thing it's an open bar because I don't think my expense account could handle it, not that I've had to order a drink all night. Oh my god, I got an expense account...I gotta ask if I can treat Anna and Lee to dinner tomorrow!

"Oh my god I'm so glad he chose you!"

I'm half way through the repeated thanks that are sounding like a broken record by now when my addled mind kindly taps me on the shoulder and whispers something to me. Eye check, blink once, twice, thrice...working, yes...oh my god.

"Trish!" I gasp, gaping like some fish Jubilee brought home to practice on for her cooking classes.

"The Dish herself!" Trish squeals, wow, at least I know I won't be alone in my hangover tomorrow.

"You have no idea how honoured I am!"

"Well, you have Josh to thank really. Guess I gotta break in a new camera man, but he laid down the law with me. Of course if he were able to come with I would have told the station you were my first pick just the same." Trish laughs, giggles and hugs me as she lays it out.

"I won't make either of you regret this!"

I'm yelling because the music is so loud, which is a good cover as I'm also a bit of a loud drunk. I'm not an angry drunk or anything, I just seem to start talking really, really loudly. At least that's what Jubilee and most of my friends tell me. But we all can't be Huggy Drunks like Lee, which on that note...

"Your friend wasn't able to make it?" Trish asks, I can't tell if it's the alcohol or if she's blushing but I lean to the later.

"Emergency babysitter." I admit, that's when Trish re-enacts just how Huggy Lee can be.

"Okay, well tomorrow you bring the rug rat and her and I'm not taking no for an answer. Dinner, my place. Catered, I don't cook." Trish lays down her ultimatum with all the authority of someone who has just gone National.

"Lee cooks." I'm not the new face of Good Morning New York for nothing, or at least that's what I tell myself to feel better about hitting the jackpot as far as I'm concerned.

"Really?" Trish asks, sipping her wine in a way that I'm sure just might have Lee ogling her.

"Seriously, and I'm not talking about the habitual watching of cooking show either. She's in Culinary College, night classes."

"I can't have her cook, she'll be a guest." Trish looks to be struggling with a decision, sipping her wine and licking her lips in thought.

"She, as my daughter would say, totes loves cooking for people. Having someone enjoy her cooking puts her on cloud nine." That's the truth, I couldn't bullshit the look on her face as she watches me melt in bliss from something she's made for the first time.

If my babysitter was here right now she might be running off with to the nearest broom closet for the bashful look Trish throws from under her bangs, her cheeks painted with a rouge no beauty kit can match. Rumours still make the rounds at the office about a New Years party a couple of years back where Lee was my guest, though there's an hour I can't account for her. You don't need to be an Investigative Journalist to see those rumours might have some fact to them that Trish and Lee were seen looking a little unkempt and flustered exiting the copy room.

"Can I get her number, just so we can...co-ordinate for tomorrows dinner?" Trish asks, dangling her phone between two fingers.

I got it programmed in and she tests it out with a selfie that the gossip blogs would kill to get their hands on. I still can't believe I'm here partying it up, and if I'm not too drunk to understand just what's going on it looks like I'm drunkenly setting up Lee with Trish. Just in time Josh comes back with more drinks, and having a sip of mine I look his way to catch wink.

_You are my hero. Keep them coming._ I text, trying not to let it slip that he's feeding me virgin cocktails now.

_Just watching out for my own interests, a hangovers one thing but I can't have these fine folks getting you blotto._ The reply comes, I steal him for a hug and a peck on the cheek that earns a sharp whistle from Trish.

It's around the time I'm out front of the bar getting some air with a cigarette burning between my fingers that the weight of everything hits me like a brick. I don't even care about my skirt anymore as I slip down and hug my knees, just the aroma of Remy's favourite brand of cigarettes wafting in the air like incense makes it feel like yesterday.

"I did it baby, just like you said I could. We're gonna be alright." I whisper, tears rolling down my cheeks as I slowly savour a guilty puff and swear I can taste his lips on the filter like old times.

Three more butts join the first before I'm ready to head back in, by that point I'm up at the bar looking for a shot of Jack for a toast that has nothing to do with what everyone else is celebrating tonight. I drink to the Jack that gave me my heart, gave me a reason to live even if we were just a couple of dumb kids feeling like worldly adults.

Slamming the glass rim down, I'm ready to face everyone even if I just want to go home to my baby and hold her tight, hold her and whisper all the silent prayers to her Daddy telling him just all the trouble his girl got up to.

Plastering a smile for the crowd and taking the latest offered drink, I'm swept up in the whirlwind. The harvest has come, and it's time to reap everything my hard work has sowed.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Auntie Jae, you awake?"

It's quiet and dark in my room 'cept for the sound of a party going on the floor below. It was a lot louder before, but Auntie Jae went to go have a chat with them about it. She came back with a bottle of beer she didn't leave with and a promise to me they'd tone it down. I'd be fast asleep myself if it wasn't for that trip to the museum.

"If I lie and say no will you let me go back to sleep?" Auntie Jae sounds tired, but not like she does when she tells me she'll kick any closet monsters ass, Slender Man included.

"What's a Paf?" I got a lot more questions than that but I figure it's a safe one to start with.

I hear her rolling around and then see her peeking over to look down at me from the me from the top bunk. We've been sharing a room for as long as I can remember, I didn't know it wasn't normal for you and your Auntie to be bunkmates. A couple years back I made friends with some kids who were like me, they didn't have a matching set of parents. I found out how lucky I was to have my Auntie Jae, and that's around the time my Auntie Jae started making me Super Hero lunches for school that I'd share with them.

Of course I don't call them that anymore, but those friends of mine started coming back with little cards that were addressed to Auntie Jae from the parents they had. I started taking some back, and sometimes I could tell she had been crying the kind of tears that are sad but you don't mind crying just the same like when I go to see Dad and tell him about everything I've been up to.

"I'll answer your question if I can ask you a question."

"Promise?" I'm raising up my pinky, and in the light of the window I can see her hang her own hand down to waggle her pink in an oath between us.

"When they talk about the changes your going through nowadays, I'm guessing they're not just talking about hair in weird places and pimples and shit right?"

"Ya mean about Mutation right?" I almost feel embarrassed about it, it's right up there with religion and stuff that ain't easy to talk about without feeling weird.

One flip later and Auntie Jae curls up with me like she used to when Mom had to work late like she is tonight, even if it's a sort of weird that she's partying but told me in a text she'd rather be home. I've watched enough TV to understand how that goes, so I just texted her some XOXO's right along with how happy I was for her.

"Do they talk about The Cure at all?"

"Yeah, like in Modern History Class and stuff." I can tell by the way Auntie Jae throws her head into my pillow that I'm making her feel old again.

"Well, to stop beatin' around the bush cause I know you're as smart as your Mom and just as sly as your Pops, yeah...I was a Mutant. But someone Cured me..." Auntie Jae whispers, hugging me tight enough that I can feel her chest shaking in anything but laughter.

Somehow I manage to bite my tongue when I hear her call herself that, kids at school get sent to detention for using that word that way. I'm laying there stunned, shocked to hear this, because I've already putting everything together that I heard back at the museum.

"Dad got Cured too didn't he?"

_Fucking thought it was a drive by_. The closet monster and Slender Man ain't got shit for how scared I am, for how bad it hurts to just try and breath. This was History Class, Intro to Politics with a whole lot of racism and the Civil Rights Movement covered right off the bat, it was Sex Ed and 'You might be wondering...' for crying out loud! It was supposed to be in some text book app on my tablet and here it was coming home where I'm supposed to be safe with Mom and my Auntie.

"Dad didn't get Cured?" I asked, already knowing the answer because Auntie Jae is openly crying now.

Somewhere between all those classes our teachers told us how there were some people who couldn't get Cured because of how their Mutations worked. It was one of those things that came out years later, and my teacher used DDT and Asbestos as easy examples before getting to the really scarey stuff. There were people who would die because of the Cure, because their mutation would just tear them apart.

_Fucking thought it was a drive by_. I saw pictures of this in class, people with plastic guns shooting glass needles into crowds at Mutant Right demonstrations. Shooting people they just thought were too different from them. We watched interviews with Erik Lehnsherr giving his perspective after having survived the freaking Holocaust, interviews in an empty cafeteria of the prison he now called home.

I have so many questions I want to ask now but my chest hurts too much and I just hug my Auntie Jae tighter until she falls asleep. I just want to go to sleep with her but I can't. When I hear the front door open god knows how much later I sneak out of bed, tucking Auntie Jae in just like she's done for me a thousand times. By the time I finally get the nerve to open my door Mom's fixing a plate of leftovers that we had in the oven to keep warm.

"Hey Baby, can't sleep?"

I can't answer her with anything other than the kind of hug she gave me when I got outta the hospital after having my appendix out. Just as I thought, her party wasn't as fun as it sounded because I can smell cigarette smoke on her, the brand she says reminds her of Dad.

"C'mon hun, plenty of room with me." Mom whispers, and any other time I might be giving her hell for babying me but tonight I need it.

"Can ya tell me about Dad?" I ask, and there's that smile that tells me just how much she loved him.

"Always Sugah, anytime ya want."

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	3. Chapter 3

 

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.

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Roughly eleven years ago...

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"Okay, so the room with the fire escape is for you guys, impromptu balcony for when Mister Dad gets a nic fit, and I guess this one is mine."

The apartment was littered with stacked boxes and furniture from the move, right along with pizza and beer sitting on the island of the kitchenette. Resting on the sofa, Mister Dad gave his lady love a much needed and enjoyed foot massage, Marie herself nursing their happy accident and little miracle.

"Oh and just so you know, since we're sharing a wall, the only screaming I wanna hear is when my most awesome little honorary niece is hungry or made a poopy." Jubilee said over her shoulder, still standing at the threshold of her room wondering just where to fit everything.

"Marie be more of a moaner so there is no worry of that." Remy said with a flirtatious grin to his lady love.

"Remy!" Marie huffed, blushing just the same thinking about all the times before that made her a mother.

"Ew, TMI, seriously. Okay, so, Rule One of our co-habitation situation is that if you two gotta get your freak on, I take Anna for a walkie. I already found out where the nearest dog park is so I can look for Mister Right About Now if you know what I mean." Jubilee groused, spinning about to point an accusing finger at the couple in question.

Burping her daughter, Marie found herself looking up into those red on black eyes that had so entranced her at first sight. Lips she knew intimately as her own pressed against her nose once, then the brow of her daughter second, her lover and the father of her child excusing himself to snag a couple of beers from the kitchen.

"So Jelly Bee, you be ready to help with the crib as you promised?" Remy asked, offering the affronted girl a beer.

"Only if you follow the instructions." A look was shared between the two ladies of the house, Jubilee throwing a wink to Marie who simply smiled back.

"How hard can it be?" Remy asked.

"Dude, seriously, you've never put together anything from Ikea have you?"

With that statement, three hours and a twelve pack of beer, along with every borrowed swear word from fudge to darn it, a crib and changing table found itself in the company of a queen sized bed in what was the bedroom of one Marie D'Ancanto and Remy LeBeau.

"Wow, you sure you're not cheating on Roguey with this foot massage?" Jubilee asked from the fire escape.

Looking to the slumbering form of his lady love and his daughter dearest on the newly assembled bed, Remy was lost to the twist of emotions that set his heart racing and had him smiling at them in sublime bliss. Finding his hands empty, he turned to find the friend of his amour sitting lotus and staring at him with a huge grin on her face.

"What?" Remy asked, reaching for his nearly forgotten cigarette.

"I like this side of you, totes not giving a damn about what anyone thinks ala your usual modus operandi of being God's Gift to Women. It's nice to get to know Daddy Remy dealing with the domestic tribulations of life in the Big Apple." Jubilee said softly with a smile tugging at her lips.

Sitting there with the cigarette between his fingers, the smoke coiling up to be snatched by the breeze, he flicked it once to cast off the ash before finishing it in a single slow draw that had the ember eat away at it hungrily. Dropping the butt into his empty beer bottle, a smile crossed his lips then.

"Thank you Jubilee." Remy said just as softly.

"Pfft, that foot massage was so many kinds of reward for putting together as much Ikea as we did." Jubilee shrugged off, rocking back and forth from her cross-legged repose.

"Thank you for helping us." Remy pressed, holding her gaze in his.

Playing the airhead routine and the gossip queen act, she tried to shrug it off until the weight of everything in those expressive eyes of his crushed her defences. Looking back at him with kind eyes that couldn't bear his gaze any longer, her gaze fell to the steelwork of the fire escape though the her twisted smile was plain to see.

"It's nice to have someplace to call home, to have folks ya wanna call family. I know you guys were offering me dibs on being her Godmother, but Auntie Jelly Bee sounds way more my style." Jubilee whispered, her short bangs just barely hiding her eyes.

Feeling her chin taken in gentle hands, her gaze was brought to his with a kiss to her nose and her brow just like he would his daughter. Kissing him on the cheek, a pact was sworn between them that made them family.

Unnoticed by either, Marie watched the scene play out with her daughter next to her, her little Anna May staring up at her with expressive eyes full of wonder. Kissing the little girl atop the head and tickling her lightly, a whisper was shared between them with a promise to tell her when she was older.

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Covered up under one blanket, mother and daughter lay curled together with the radio playing quietly in the background, Anna looking to her mother to see a hint of tears in her eyes. On the night stand the clock radio told the hour in electric green, the new day come with few hours left until the dawn. Kissing her once to the nose, then to the brow, Marie saw fresh tears in her daughters eyes and knew they'd dry in time. Tears were a small pittance to pay for her baby girl to know just why she still kissed her as she did after all these years.

"Can I sleep with you tonight Mom?" Anna asked, her voice tight and taught.

"Always, you'll never be too old that ya can't hunker down with yer Momma." Marie whispered, sniffling and wrapping a hug around her.

Sleep found them after a time, mother and daughter dozing and dreaming in the hours between midnight and the morn in one another's arms.

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	4. Chapter 4

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.

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"Roguey, 'splain."

Jubilee's stumbling out of the bedroom she shares with my baby girl wrapped up in what looks to be my daughters blanket with the kind of bedhead some people spend a lot of money perfecting at salons. She's got her phone held at me like a weapon, but it's not until she makes her way to the shoddy kitchen island that I remember some important details from last night, like Trish looking saucy and sultry for a selfie.

"Trish invited us over for dinner tonight, I...might have said you'd cook. She was gonna have it catered but I thought you could show off your stuff." I get the feeling I'm just digging my grave deeper with the way she's looking about ready to explode.

"Us, you mean..." Jubilee asks, pointing between us and to the bath where the shower is running for my Anna May

"Us, Trish, and I think Josh is gonna be there too along with his son."

Ducking into the fridge for a rummage, so far breakfast for baby and me will be toaster strudel, two tall glasses of milk, and...jackpot, I knew there were some strawberries left in there. Closing the door with a bump of my hip, all I can see of Lee are her legs dangling over the top of sofa while her reflection in the TV shows her head nearly touching the floor as she reads through the texts that must have piled up last night. Washing the strawberries and cherry picking the best for Anna, I plate them and find my forgotten cup of coffee.

One awful cry of tortured taps and shuddering pipes tells me my girl is done with her shower, and in a billow of steam she pops out in a purloined hot pink bathrobe. Smiling at her in that sublime sadness at seeing her growing up right before my eyes, I remember when she'd run around the apartment from her Auntie Jae having stolen it again, three sizes too big dragging it all over the place. Now it fits her perfectly, and in a few more years I doubt Lee will have anything to worry about.

"Breakfast is served kid, c'mon and sit with your Momma."

I watch her skip up to the island, a hop and a jump landing her one of the bar stools Lee and me found at a rummage sale years ago. The paint's well worn and weathered, polished by our butts over the years since we first finagled them up the stairs because the elevator had been out of order that day. Raising our glasses in toast, we both get down to business.

"Wish I had more time ta make ya something that ain't served outta a toaster." It's something I'm going to have to get used to, the mornings are going to be even more rushed now what with the schedule of the show to consider.

All I get is a shrug and happy munching, that's my baby, easy to please as long as loves an ingredient. That or she's got something on her mind, so I test the water with a light kick to her stool. Looking up, she quickly glances off to those dangling legs of Lee and purses her lips just like she always does when she's really getting down to some serious thinking.

"What's up my munchkin?" I ask, leaning in to rest my head to hers.

"Nothing." Anna mumbles between bites.

Typical answer. What did you learn at school today? Nothing. What did you get up to over at your friends place? Nothing. I let that dog lie for now, but already I got a butt load of questions for a certain Miss Lee by way of some text messaging once I'm on the way to my segment. Speak of the devil, there goes my phone doing a jig across the counter. Popping off the barstool, I grab it just before it falls into the sink still full with last nights dishes.

"Josh is gonna be here in five, I better take the stairs just in case." Wolfing down my strudel and chugging my milk, I give my baby girl the last of my strawberries with a hug and kiss.

"You'll walk her to school right?" I ask at the door.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. They still haven't caught that freak?" Jubilee asks with a waved hand from the sofa.

"Not that I've heard of yet, always pays to be safe."

Goes to figure for the last couple of weeks there have been reports of some guy chatting up young girls in the neighbourhood, and not in a friendly sort of way either. Thank god for Lee having nothing to do in mornings other than watch cartoons and study for her evening classes, otherwise I just don't know what I'd do. Locking up behind me and rushing down the stairs, I'm out the door just in time to see Josh taking the corner sharp.

"Extra large coffee, and I got you a ham and swiss on marbled rye" Josh greets as soon as I got my arse in the seat.

"Breakfast of champions?" I ask gladly taking the coffee.

"Life on the road is an unforgiving mistress, though I know all the best joints for lunch, feel free to use that expense account." Josh laughs, merging back into traffic and getting us on the way.

I still got a few hoops to jump through before I'm a salary girl, but I've already got a raise and a modest expense account to tide me over. I still can't believe it, it's all just a dream, but I'm sure as heck gonna put my best foot forward and make it all real.

"Will do, hey, you mind if I grill my roomie? I got the sense my baby girl has something on her mind."

"Give'r, I'll find us some tunes. Got a bit of time before we gotta rock and roll anyway." Josh replies , searching through the presets with his eyes on the road.

Coffee in the cup holder and phone in hand, here's hoping Lee is handy and not getting ready to take Anna to school. Wondering just where to start, I sigh with my mind running through all the things that might have my baby in a mood. Bad grades? Trouble at school? Boy problems? Here goes nothing.

_Hey Lee, how did that trip at the museum go?_

Having a sip of my coffee while waiting, that's one thing that didn't come up in the family time we had last night, Anna May surprised me in a good way askin' after her Daddy. God the stories I got to tell her about that man someday, when she's old enough that I don't gotta worry about her trying to take after us and all the hell we got up to in those all too few magnificent years together.

_Swanky, totes made it way less lame than the ones we used to go on at boarding school._ Jubilee sends back with a wink.

Boarding School, that's how we've always played it up how Lee and me met for my baby girl, the truth is just something I know we both want to forget. But it wasn't all bad, but after _-it-_ happened, after Remy was taken from all of us, well...

_Anna didn't go talking to you about anything did she?_

Indulging in half of the Ham and Swiss, I'm picking it to pieces waiting for a reply wondering just what mischief those two are up to on the other end. Maybe I should have waited until later when my girl was at school so that her and her Auntie couldn't go getting their story straight, note to self...remember this if I ever get to do anything other than some fluff pieces for the station.

_Nope, didn't go talkin' to me about much at the museum._

Any boys making eyes at her or such?

_Just Toby but I'm gonna have to introduce that kid to the Friendzone, save him some puppy love heart break._

_Anything happen at the museum?_

_Nope, just dem dino bones and all the usual jazz._

Frowning and trusting my gut, I know there's something going on and it's just gonna come down to who's gonna tell it to me straight. First there was Lee coming out this morning with my baby girl's blanket, and then there was that look Anna had in her eyes. On top of it all was our Mom and Daughter time last night, adding it all up has me worried. Time to try a bluff.

_Then what's up with this email I got from the school?_

From the emoticon she sent me I can just picture her kissing her teeth, it's from a batch my girl put on my phone after she figured out my password, little brat, I still haven't figured out how to set it back to normal. We're at a red when my phone rings, in the background I can hear my bedroom window opening up to the fire escape.

"What did they do? Call you in for a parent teacher meeting or something?" Jubilee asks.

"Something like that." I'm outright lying through my teeth, but hanging around with everyone I did from Boarding School and beyond, I hold my own.

"Ugh, look, it was totally my bad. Don't go worrying your head, hell...I'll call the school and see if I can't go put in some volunteer hours or something to smooth things over." Jubilee growls, I can picture her running a hand through her hair like she always does when she's frustrated.

"Ya don't got to do that Lee, there's some things I wanna ask the teacher anyway." Have shovel, will dig, but there's a quiet on the other end of the line that has me biting my lip while being glad I went with just some lip gloss today.

"Oh you brat..." Jubilee mutters.

"Sorry, when it comes to my kid I play dirty." I laugh, there's just an loud sigh on the other end finishing in kissed teeth.

"Seriously, it's no biggie, I'll come clean tonight when we get some one on one time, k? Just Jack to keep us company like ol' times. Oh hey, ask your man Josh there what Trish likes."

"I'll hold you to that, and you're on speaker now so say that last part again."

I let Lee switch the subject, it's the least I can do after telling Trish that she'd cook for the party tonight. I half listen to Jubilee running through the list of stuff Trish texted as far as ideas, Josh giving his own ideas and input. Just the same if we're having some girl time with Jack keep us company Lee must want me a bit on the mellow side for whatever she had to say. But like earlier I decided to let that dog lay for now, I got work to do.

"Gotta let ya go Lee, we're here and we gotta get set up. Keep my girl safe, ya hear?"

"Always Sugah." Jubilee says in passing with a faux southern accent that just sounds silly hearing it from her.

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"Okay, how do I look?" Auntie Jae asks.

"Uh...it ain't Halloween ya know?" I point out after I get my jaw up off the floor.

"Duh, otherwise I'd be rocking Sassy Schoolgirl and not a sweater vest." Auntie Jae snorts.

"Why the flip are you dressed up like that?" I'm asking and she's just rolling her eyes in that way that I'm still trying to get down pat for when boys ask stupid questions.

"We're going hunting half pint." Auntie Jae is making like zero sense right now.

"Uh...what?" If I didn't know she slept on my bunk last night I'd be wondering if she fell outta the top bunk and hit her head.

"So like, back to the matter at hand, you think I could pass for a high school kid like this?" Auntie Jae looks like she's going to some Catholic Schools, dressed in slacks, a prim white dress shirt and the aforementioned sweater vest which...

"Where the hell did you get that?!" Look nothing, I know that coat of arms, my friend Selina's older sis goes there!

"I know peeps. Fishing for perv, ya gotta have the right bait. So, whatcha think?" Auntie Jae is now twirling around way too giddy, I'm wondering if she didn't put a little something stronger than Irish Cream in her coffee.

"Uh..." Tilting my head this way and that trying to forget that this is my Auntie who I not only share a bedroom with but some clothes too, "Yeah, I guess you could. Way weird."

"Awesome, text your peeps and give them the skinny! Tell 'em to be wery, wery quiet, cause it's pedo season."

It all make sense right now, and I gotta say my Auntie Jae is slick if kinda weird. Oh man, I really hope this perv comes out, after yesterday at the museum with Hairy Dude, this guy is in for a world of hurt if Auntie Jae catches him. While I'm texting she disappears back into our bedroom for a minute, coming back out with some of my sparkly lip gloss on and...oh my god, pig tails.

"Heck yeah, if we don't run into this creep on your way to school, I'm so gonna go get carded a few times just to make my day. C'mon squirt, lets do this."

Picking up the _posse_ as Auntie Jae calls it, we're five strong and heading to school forgetting all about any possible pedobears lurking around. Toby and Shen are reading up on Spider-man's latest Tweets, checking out his Instagram and what not.

"Did you see the latest in the Bugle?" Shen asks Toby who just nods with his eyes glued to his phone.

Living in NYC means knowing all about how the Bugle trying to out to out Spider-man, thing is he's got the social media scene clinched. Then there's the Avengers that have gone National, not to mention the Fantastic Four and more vigilantes that you can shake a stick at. But here's Auntie Jae playing dress up trying to find one perv, figures.

"Hey Toby, lemme see your phone for a sec." If life were like the cartoons I'd have a light bulb above my head.

"What's up babe?" Auntie Jae asks, she's been biting her tongue at every last Kiddo, Half Pint and out dated Short Stuff seen as how I caught up to her.

"Just tweeting something, oh, hey everyone get in close and smile!" I manage to get in for the shot, and bam, there it is, just another in a long line of tweets asking a hero for help.

"Girlfriend, have I ever said how smart you are?" Auntie Jae asks as she's all leaning over my shoulder and looking at what I've been up to.

"Lets just see how Friendly our Neighbourhood Spider-man really is?" Smug, nah, I smile this way all the time.

For the rest of the walk to school Toby and Shen can't tear their eyes away from their phones while getting their tweet on, me and the girls plus Auntie Jae kill time chatting and enjoying the morning. Every now and then I peek in at restaurants and coffee shops to see if Mom's on the tube, but it's just the two regular peeps at the desk most times or the lady talking about the weather and stuff. Maybe once I get into class I can sneak my phone out to check it out.

"Okay you guys, have fun and I'll see ya after class." Auntie Jae's still playing it up looking like she's about to head off to her own school, but that's when I'm reaching for the door only to have it open for me.

"Uh, hi Missus Singh." Looks like Public Education is here for a rematch, Auntie Jae walks me to school pretty often that it was a safe bet she'd be here today.

Missus Singh gives us the ' _Don't you have places to be?_ ' look, so I figure it's every girl for herself and jog to class after a last look to my Auntie Jae. There I see her standing with Missus Singh, looking on up at my teacher with the kinda look she gives Mom all the time when we're up to trouble, the _'I can explain this if you just give me one minute_ ' look. Now I got another reason to sneak my phone out later, so I can send a text and find out how the rematch went.

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"Miss Lee?"

"Uh, present?" Wow, I did not see this coming but with my kinda luck I should have.

"May I ask just what you are doing dressed as such?" She has to be some flavour of British or maybe somewhere in the Commonwealth because she's got this accent I didn't notice yesterday that's wow.

"Well, it was from you guys that we got the notice about Pervert McGee." Okay, thinking about pervs chatting up girls in that sort of 'Can you tell me where on the doll he touched you' way is enough to get my mind off that hot accent.

So apparently she and He Who Shall Not Be Named go to the same school as far as asking questions with eyebrows alone. Except hers is kinda severe and scary, not in the sexy way unless you're into the kinda play with a lot of ' _Yes Mistress_ ' and riding crops. Huh, that kinda reminds me of someone for some reason. It's right around that time I realize how far my train of thought has missed the station that I see Missus Singh looking less severe and more...surprised?

"If you have a moment, could you come to my office?" Having a teacher asking me that is a complete flash back to my school days.

"Uh, you're not giving me detention for yesterday, are ya?" She surprises me by laughing and it's a very British laugh, at least as far as from what I've seen in movies and on the BBC, and...dammit brain, start earning your keep!

"No, I'm not going to give you detention, I just would like to talk to you about yesterday."

And we're walking, we're walking, we're walking...on your right you'll see...trophies, pictures, paintings and stuff. All the kind of stuff I used to see back in my ' _Boarding School_ ' days, and before that in my prep school days. I guess that's her home room because she peeks her head in to tell the kids to start reading Chapter Ten in their text if she isn't back by the time the bell rings.

Her office is...cozy, which is surprising considering I was picturing her as a Mistress. She offers me up a papasan. Her desk is filled with all sorts of stuff, pictures, little knickknacks and a mug of something that she empties down the sink of her little kitchenette.

"Tea?"

"Sure."

So here I am waiting for the kettle to boil, picking out which kinda of brew I want, and trying to figure out some half-assed excuse for trying to beat the snot outta Logan yesterday when he just had to walk back into my life. I'm still waiting for that other shoe to drop, and I'm not talking about telling Roguey about it tonight with Jack keeping the peace. No, I'm talking about when that asshole will start sniffing around enough that he'll come knocking at our door someday.

"I have to say, when I first happened upon that incident yesterday I had my misgivings. It's not the first time I've heard of violence being directed at that school." She might have well just kicked me in the chest because I can't breath.

"But Mister Howlett assured me this wasn't the case and promised to explain later over the phone."

Right around the time my lungs are burning my body decides my brain is on a coffee break and takes over, I'm feeling like an idiot sitting there gasping for breath. A mug of tea finds its way to my hands and it's then I notice how cold they are.

"You thought I was getting my Mutant Hate on?" I can't keep the laugh out of my voice, it just sounds so fucking crazy.

"It's really amazing how far we've come in just a little over a decade, but as we've seen before this is a struggle that will take more than a handful of years to see through."

"What the hell did that asshole tell you?" I'm finally able to look up from the cup and I feel like an ass trying to hold onto my anger seeing how honestly concerned she looks.

"He assured me my fears were baseless, and that it was just a chance meeting that opened up old wounds." Missus Singh says quietly, popping her tea bag on a plate.

"Uh huh, I'm guessing you just paraphrased what he said right?" There's a small smile and a nod as she admits it, I can just imagine what Logan must have really said over the phone, Shakespear he is not.

"That's when I went to their institutions website and happened upon a photo..."

There we are in living colour up on her monitor, god were we really that young? It's Pre-Stryker because John's there and we all look happy, just dumb kids goofing off for the camera. I could try and fake it that it's not me, but Roguey has never once dyed that trademark streak of hers.

"The world can be a very harsh place and I'm only asking because I am concerned for Anna May, but does she know of her heritage?" She asks it like she might ask if I'm a First Generation Chinese-American.

I have to bite back my knee jerk snark because I can see she ain't lying about being concerned, it's too weird for me to consider with how me and Roguey grew up.

"Lets just say our hand got forced in more ways that one, but she's a smart kid and started putting the pieces together last night. We had a little chat, but I'm gonna let her Mom be the one to lay it all out for her."

That seems to buy me some points with Missus Singh so I go back to my tea waiting for the question that I feel is coming. Just like back in the days o' Mutant High, there was always that one question after the meet and greet, what can you do?

"May I ask...?"

"No." But then I remember this isn't just about me, "We took the cure, got our genes scrubbed, completely X-Factor Negative and it didn't run in the family if you catch my drift."

I can't even look up at her now, I'm just hoping she's as proper as that British accent I'm hearing. Course I got only myself to blame for the whole mess, I could have just ignored Logan and played nice, but no I had to go do what I swore I'd do if I ever saw him again.

"I can tell you're very concerned for Miss D'Ancanto and her daughter."

I don't know if it's the office, the cup of tea, or the fact that I'm dressed up as I am, but it takes me back. I feel thirteen all over again, feel like I'm getting a heart to heart from Ro or the Professor himself.

"You have my word this won't leave the room, I'm glad my impression of you was wrong." Missus Singh promises.

"Back at ya Teach."

And then there's the warning bell, proving there is a god even if he's a worse asshole than Logan. Finishing up our tea and listening to the rush of feet of all the would be latecomers out in the hall, I'm more than ready to get out of here so I can figure out what I'm gonna tell Roguey about my own sort of parent teacher meeting.

"If I might be so bold as to ask, just where did you come across that uniform?"

"Friend's daughter goes there, and we're the same size too. Go figure, kid's thirteen and Anna's twelve. I swear to god Peter Pan ain't got nothing on me. But I figure better me than them as far as that pedo goes, so here's hoping he comes out to play."

Looks like we're not done impressing each other either because she looks taken back in a good way, leaning in for a hug that I didn't realize I could use. It takes me a minute before I can return it, I'm too lost in memories I thought I didn't want to remember. Memories of detentions served drinking a herbal tea I hated, doing a bunch of meditation exercises and zen stuff that Ro told me might help tone down my temper. Hah, proved ya wrong Stormy.

"Be careful." Just a couple of words, but I'm surprised by how much sentiment they got packed into them.

"Will do, oh and hey...if Anna is a little uh...spirited...totes sorry, I'm kinda the bad influence on her in that way." Foot, meet mouth, or at least that's how it feels with the look Missus Singh throws me.

"That's amusing, because in our last Parent Teacher meeting Missus D'Ancanto confessed much."

The final bell saves me from having to make any more awkward chit chat, settling for one last quick hug before rushing down the halls. I hit the street running, itching for a fight and hoping someone deserving will oblige me.

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	5. Chapter 5

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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_Roughly Fourteen Years Ago..._

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"Ugh, I hate winter."

Looking down at the girl beside him bundled up in a fake fur coat of a yellow almost as blinding as the winter sun, Logan adjusted his shades just enough to quirk a questioning eyebrow at her. Lowering her own sunglasses to return fire with a withering look, Jubilee spun on her heel and promptly fell face first into the untouched snow. Laughing at her as he lit up a cigar, that had been the one reason he had volunteered to go check the mail after the blizzard that had just hit the East Coast, needing a bit of alone time with his bad habit.

Free of the snow and back to following in his footsteps, Jubilee trailed him while digging through her coat looking for a pack of cigarettes. Pressing one to her lips, with a snap of her fingers a firecracker spark lit it with a loud pop. Puffing away to get the cherry burning bright, she let go of a smoky breath that had nothing to do with the cold.

"I thought ya quit?" Logan asked.

"Lets just say when I pictured goin' down to Mardi Gras I wasn't expecting that, but at least Roguey found her rebound after that break up with Bobby." Jubilee hissed, hunched up and trying to stay warm as she puffed away on her cigarette.

"Lets just hope that's all it is." Logan growled, quickening his pace to the mailbox, ignoring the complaints called after him.

"Dude, slow down, I...dammit!"

Hearing her fall in the snow again was music to his ears, he was in a foul enough mood enough as it was without being reminded of Remy LeBeau. A smug prick and what the girls thought of as sexy, the lucky lady to catch LeBeau's fancy just had to be Marie. Stomping through the snow thinking of a few things he'd like to do to that pretty boy face, the only warning Logan had was the tang of ozone in the air while his hair stood on end.

Feeling like he just got mule kicked in the back that knocked the wind out of him, he tumbled through the snow to land crouched and ready for a fight with his claws itching for release. Standing opposite him in the two feet of snow with her bare hands glowing like the business end of a roman candle, Jubilee stood just as ready just like he'd taught her down in the Danger Room with the rest of the juniors.

"You wanna do this now?" Even without LeBeau in the mix Mardi Gras had been one giant cluster fuck after the other, stuck as he was playing chaperone, and right now his biggest mistake was glaring down at him.

"I came out lookin' for a smoke just like you, but here you are rocking this bad vibe that has me wondering if you're not gonna try takin' Roguey's boy toy down to the Danger Room for a few rounds. So I'm just tellin' you here and now for my BFF's sake that you better tone it down a notch or ten!" Jubilee was a girl who could rant when pissed off, but Logan could only stare back at her with some honest confusion.

"Wait, that's what this is about?" Logan started to ask but fell silent as he was met by her own confused look.

"Uh, duh?" The glow from her hands faded as she crossed her arms with her hip cocked in her best ' _You got some 'splainin' to do_ ' pose.

"I thought it was, you know...what happened durin' Mardi Gras." Logan muttered, finding his smoldering cigar in the snow before it was completely ruined.

Confusion turned to shock, and from shock to clear amusement as Jubilee likely figured out just what track his train of thought was on.

"You thought I was pissed because we took some horny foolin' around too far? For a guy who I'd put money on having had more one night stands than I've had years on this messed up world you can be pretty clueless."

Ignoring her just so he could get his chore over with now that enjoying a smoke was out of the question, laughter trailed him that grated at his last nerve. There were so many questions left unsaid between them that he could only wonder if she had told Marie about their little fiasco yet.

"Seriously dude, do you have any idea how many girls here would give it up if you just said 'Hey, you...me...the closet down the hall.' Like the whole school!"

"You wanna say that any louder?" Turning on her with a glance back up at the school, Jubilee met him with her sheer incredulous expression tinged with clear amusement as told by her smile.

"Okay, maybe not the whole school, I mean Roguey has Remy now and I gotta say even I'm curious..."

"He's a fucking thief!" Once said the words couldn't be taken back, but a look to her told him they hadn't conveyed just how he felt.

"And you used to hustle cage fights! Hypocrite much?!" Kicking snow at him, Jubilee puffed a foggy breath in the frigid morn.

"I did some digging and he's got a sheet that would make my one night stands look like light readin'!" Realizing he had gotten to yelling, Logan looked back at the school fearing they might have an audience.

"And I'm sure if there was anything there that was worth kicking him to the curb you'd have told either Ro or Roguey by now. Probably half the shit on it you used to do for kicks on a Friday night anyway."

"That or he learned how to cover his tracks!" Hardly believing she could be so trusting, Logan stared at her as she likely mulled over her next excuse for Remy.

"Wow, now you're just sounding paranoid. Fuck me! Wait, you already did that." Smiling smugly with a shit eating grin, Jubilee let her cigarette dangle from her lip as she took a calming breath of the frigid, fresh air.

Stalking up to loom over her, Logan snatched her cigarette away, flicking it off at the snow where it died with a sizzling hiss. Just because she was old enough to make some mistakes didn't mean he'd let her go making one she'd damned well regret one day.

"We all got pasts bub, even if we don't wanna or can't remember them. Maybe it took a little longer till Remy found his way here, but it's what he does with this chance that's gonna make or break it. You wanna know where Roguey woulda ended up taking that road she was on if she didn't happen to go hitching a ride with you?" Jubilee spat, stubbornly lighting up a fresh cigarette with a look that dared him to try for it.

"She didn't go down that road, she had...she has me." Said in little more than a whisper, the weight of the words dragged Logan down where thoughts of all the shoulda, woulda, coulda laid.

"Well here's fucking hoping ya mean that, and you can go proving it by shutting that trap of yours and letting her go make some mistakes of her own." Blowing smoke, Jubilee tried to hold onto her own anger at him.

"She's making one right now." Closing his eyes to let go of a weary breath, Logan turned back after the mailbox.

"That's for her to decide. We're her friends right? Last I checked that means we're here to help after she makes mistakes."

"Fine by me as long as it involves a body bag and an alibi." Feeling a hand on his shoulder that forced him to face his own mistake, Logan could only feel ashamed knowing he'd been her first, yet here she was acting like nothing had changed between them.

"Seriously Logan, if anyone's to blame for her having the hots for the bad boy it's you. Just promise me you'll be there when she needs ya, you're her go to guy for the big stuff." Jubilee said with a laugh through her chattering teeth.

"Promise."

"I'll hold you to that." Leaning close on her tip toes, Jubilee gave him a chaste peck on the cheek.

"Still doesn't mean I have to like the prick."

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Present...

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Sitting at his desk, the room was dark with just a lamp lending some light. Pouring another belt of whiskey, his cell sat there taunting him, tethered to the wall by the slim cord of the charger. It was antique as far as the kids were concerned these days, but Logan remembered going out shopping for it with Marie's all those years ago. It was his phone, nothing to do with the school or anything else, and only a few people had his number.

So it wasn't that much a surprise to find just a handful of missed calls and messages on it, something he hadn't the inkling to do until a trip to the museum left him with some questions that he didn't feel right asking anyone about. Swallowing down some liquid courage as he dialled his voice mail and waited out the recorded voice telling him his options, he punched in a password only recently remembered.

"First message, sent on..."

The first few seconds were an eternity to him, dreading the message but having to endure just the same. Crying rang loudly while in the background he could hear someone doing their damnedest to give some comfort.

"...I don't even know what hospital we're at!" Marie croaked, her sobs overtaking her as that someone cooed their sympathy.

"Logan," In between hiccuped breaths Marie struggled to say what she had to say, "call me back soon. We need you, all of us need you, even Remy. Someone, someone shot at us..."

_Fucking thought it was a drive by_ , the words echoed though his head said with all the anger and vitriol he heard back at the museum. Having a swallow straight from the bottle, he braced himself.

"The baby's fine, I wanted it to be a surprise when ya got back, so...surprise!" Forcing a laugh that withered into whimpers, Marie sucked a breath to carry on, "Someone shot as us, Remy and Lee...well, they're in isolation. They protected me and my baby Logan, someone shot the Cure at us! I need you Logan, please call me back as soon as you can."

"To replay this message..."

Skipping to the next and throwing it to speaker, he didn't give a damn who heard anymore as he didn't trust himself not to snap the phone in half or throw it across the room. Tossing it down and slugging back a swallow, he readied himself.

"Logan, I called the school...they said you still haven't come back..." Sounding weary, tired and drained of life, Marie fell quiet on the other end of the line for so long he thought she had hung up, "Lee's out of isolation, they say she's going to be alright. Remy, he's..."

Whatever composure she had shattered with a heart wrenching cry that cut across all the years he'd been away. Running a hand over his face knowing the sum of her words to come but wondering just how she'd say it, the message ended with four little words, _I need you Logan_.

"To replay this message..." Tapping the keypad, he skipped to the next.

"Ro heard your phone ringing in your room. You're fucking lucky Roguey's passed out beside me, 'cause if she answered instead of me I'd hunt your sorry ass down discharged or not. Remy's dying and I think the only thing that's keeping Rogue together is believing you're gonna come walking in here any minute and somehow save the fucking day. Guess I know what your fucking promises are worth now."

With four messages left and not enough courage to see them through, sleep wouldn't come for him tonight. Leaving his room to ghost through the school as quietly as he could, even the den felt empty without Jones sitting there watching TV one channel at a time. Tonight the school felt just like it had one day so many years ago, some strange place where he didn't belong. He was chasing after his past again, except this time he knew just where to go to find some answers.

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	6. Chapter 6

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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"Jubilation Lee! What the hell are you wearing!?"

Just shy of twelve years of practice with my own daughter had my friend spinning around looking guilty as hell, all the girls around her stepping back to single her out just so they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Here I was getting used to having an expense account by treating Josh to lunch at my favourite dinner and what the heck do I see, my roommate who's the honorary Auntie of my daughter dressed up like the catholic school girls she just walked in with, the lot of breaking all kinds of dress code.

"Oh hey Roguey, I got a really good explanation for this." Jubilee greeted, giving the girls she was with an entirely too cheerful smile.

Behind me I heard the faux shutter of a camera that had me see Josh taking a picture of my best friend, I didn't have to ask who he'd be sending it to. As much as I wanted to be mad at him for it, I could only wonder just what Trish would think. Shaking my head to clear the cobwebs of my matchmaking, I got back to staring down my friend which was easy thanks to just enough of a height difference that made for good leverage when our rare spats got physical.

"Git yer ass in the booth and stop making a scene." I hissed realizing just how many eyes were on me.

"You're the one making the scene." Jubilee muttered petulantly, sounding just about as old as she honestly looked.

"Should I...?" Josh asked, gesturing as if he were going to take his leave to give us some privacy.

"No..." I said after a heavy sigh, settling back in the booth to slump down low hoping to hide myself from the curious looks thrown my way.

"Ooo, poutine!" Jubilee chirped, stealing a gravy laden fry from my plate, twirling it around and around to snatch up the stringy strands of melted cheese curd.

"Git yer own, waitress...another poutine." Snatching my plate back from my fry thief, how she could look so smug I didn't know.

"Anyways, to answer your question Roguey I borrowed my co-worker's daughter's school uniform ta walk kiddo to school. Figured I'd go incognito but rock the kink if ya know what I mean, not sassy schoolgirl but pedobear bait." Jubilee explained, kicking her feet under the table like she was on some sugar high.

"Jubes, only you can make me feel grateful and wanna punch ya at the same time. Lunch is on me." Laughing at it all, it was just the kind of crazy stunt that only made sense when she was involved.

"Woot, makes it way easier to chow down on what's a delicious blend of grease, fat and salt wrapped up in a clogged artery." Jubilee cheered.

"You know what, can I get a salad here? I got a kid I gotta be around for." Josh called out to the waitress, pushing off his fries leftover from his house burger.

"Dibs!" Snatching them up, Jubilee munched away at his leftovers like she had a wooden leg.

"So Anna's safe and sound at school?" I asked, it was a stupid question but when my baby girl is involved I'm a worry wort.

"Yep, and me and Missus Singh had a little one on one that I'll fill ya in on when it's just you, me and Jack." Jubilee offered up making that conversation all the more pressing.

Rolling my eyes, I got back to my heart attack on a plate, it was no use trying to weasel anything out of Jubilee when she was ready to be evasive. Same time I saw Josh looking between us in that way that begged for an explanation, so it was time to show Lee there's no such thing as a free lunch.

"So ya wanna tell Josh why you're dressed up like that?"

"Figured I'd dress up as jail bait so I could walk Anna to school incognito enough that just maybe this creep out in our neck of the woods might c'mon up and try his ' _Hi, I lost my dog can you help me find them..._ ' ploy or whatever line he's been using. Then I'd just let him run with enough line to hang himself so I could introde his testicles to my foot and call the cops." Jubilee rambled on nonchalant between bites of her fries.

"As much as I'm crossing my legs feeling uncomfortable, I'm seriously impressed. I know Susan from the evening news is working on this story, if you actually catch him this way I'll have to put you two in touch." Josh said.

"Nice, oh hey, the kids were even tweeting Spider-man to give him a heads up, but I'd rather be the one that finds this perv. Actually, anyone know if that Punisher whack job has a twitter account?" Jubilee asked, switching gears so fast she could race Nascar.

Devils Advocate, thy name is Jubilee, as much as I'd be out for blood if this guy even laid a finger on my Anna May, I'd still want him to get a fair trial. That way he could see inside of a jail which I hear ain't too kind to folks who mess with kids. Rolling my eyes as I kick Lee from under the table, once again I noticed just how many people are eavesdropping on our conversation. Old habits die hard and right now I was feeling a bit self conscious.

"Okay, why the heck is Trish sayin' I got detention? What the...oh my god you didn't!" Jubilee sputtered after checking her phone.

"Guilty as charged and you can thank me later." Josh confessed with a laugh.

"You are so lucky I know you're a Daddy cause I'm not gonna turn no kids into orphans..." Jubilee growled, crossing her arms and biting her lip in a way that wasn't helping her case in anyway as Josh snaps another picture.

"Hey, if you moonlight as a photographer when you're not playing camera man, I got some ladies who are looking for one that ain't just trying to get 'em on the casting couch if you know what I mean." Jubilee said as she got her vogue on.

"I might know a thing or two, if you have some friends needing some portfolio work for some modelling I'd be game." Josh shot back after another snapped shot.

"Dude, if I didn't have Trish Tilby threatening me with a ruler I'd kiss you. I'll leave that to the lucky ladies." Laughing at the pair of them, I left them to exchange info.

"Wait, ruler?" I asked, only to have Lee show me a selfie of the lady whom was to be my mentor channelling the school mistress vibe.

"Send. That. To. Me." Blackmail was the name of the game, Trish struck me as the kind of lady who empty threats didn't work on if she got to be a little meddlesome for all the right reasons.

"Only if you get your Mom Voice going, I got my peeps to get back to. And don't worry Roguey I'll pick up Anna from school. You got this right?" Pointing to her poutine that came in the company of a salad that had no business of being at the same table, I threw her a wink and let her go hang out with the kids.

"You know, if I wasn't used to Trish I might be a little worried about dinner tonight." Josh noted.

Laughing it up and stealing a tomato from his salad, I gave him a kick under the table and thanked my lucky starts once more. Good co-workers, great friends, and the best daughter I could ever ask for...life was good.

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"Mom! Have you seen my favourite shirt!" Neck deep in my closet, I couldn't find it anywhere which had me worried.

"I'm lookin' at it right now kiddo." Mom shouted back from the living room.

Freaking that it got mixed up with her laundry, it was even worse than I imagined. Sitting at the counter my so-called role models in life were polishing off a bottle of wine leftover from the weekend with Auntie Jae wearing my shirt. Whatever I said about it being cool having an Aunt ya can borrow clothes from, I now hereby retract that statement.

"Ah what the heck am I supposed to wear now!?" That's it, find me a burlap sack.

"Check the bathroom, I think I saw something hanging up in there." Auntie Jae offered, spinning in her seat to smile smugly at my Mom.

I knew I must have been making a face because Mom pulled out her phone to snap a photo of me in my hand me down housecoat. Stomping off and slamming the door just a bit louder than I planned on, it was a good thing I was behind closed doors because my jaw just hit the flipping floor.

"Oh my god, oh my god, I love you Mom!" I screamed.

It was -The Shirt- that I wanted from the last time we went window shopping, the one that there was no way in hell I'd ever get while it was still fashionable. Running my fingers down the fabric just to make sure it was real, I squealed and ran off to my room for my phone. Hashtag bestmomever, I tweeted the news.

"How the hell could you afford this?!" Hell's alright when it's just us, but if I ever drop an F Bomb then Mom will be the one getting biblical on me.

"My bonus." Mom said, her and Auntie Jae toasting each other to finishing off their wine.

"You blew your bonus on this?!" Hashtag momsgonewild.

"God no, just some of it. Hard as it is ta imagine kiddo I was your age once, so you just make damn sure nothing happens to it when ya wear it to school." Rushing to my room to get changed, dinner was sounding awesome all of a sudden.

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"Mom! Someone's at the door!"

"Lee? Can ya get it!" I shouted, currently busy as I was getting gussied up for tonight's dinner party.

"She's in the bathroom!" My baby girl yelled back, an expert of the household intercom.

Buttoning up the last few on my blouse and checking myself in the mirror, I looked good. Not knowing just who might be at this shindig of Trish's to celebrate my promotion, I figured better over dressed than under dressed. Hitting the living room I hear the shower going and saw Anna in her room with a certain makeup kit that was off limits. Stomping in and looking down at her, I mouthed the only word she needed to know, Busted.

"Just a bit please!" Anna begged and I just had to roll my eyes that I was even considering it.

"Just a bit and remember you're twelve! I'm not having my girl going around looking like a hussy" One down, two to go, hurrying up Lee and answering the door.

Cracking the bathroom door just enough so the curtain got a bit clinging as to rush my roomie along, I headed to the door just in time to hear that someone knocking again. Peeking out the peep hole, it was pitch black out in the hall. Great, well...at least this time the power was still going in our apartment, shoddy fucking electrical in this building. It just reminded me to go ask the Super again just how long Emergency Lighting was supposed to last for after one too many hikes up the stairs using my cell as a flashlight. Throwing open the door just to find out who the heck was callin', my heart stopped.

"Hey, long..."

Knee. Jerk. Reaction. On autopilot my foot kicks him right in the nuts, all while my mind was trying to tell me I was seeing what I was seeing. Logan. After twelve years he walks back into my life and just walks up to my apartment like nothing ain't happened between us, and what do I do? I bare foot kick him in the nuts forgetting his pelvic bone is just as hard as his god damned head!

"Sonovabitch!"

With a graceless twist I fall and I'm on the carpet noticing that it's about due for a vacuuming. There's no way I'll be wearing my new heels tonight, but that's probably for the best actually. That's when I hear the bathroom door so I can get treated to Jubilee in her birthday suit thinking we're getting robbed or something.

"You asshole!" Okay so she hasn't forgotten what Logan looks like either.

And there goes my Mother's Day gift from two years ago, something Anna made in Art Class. It's all kind of fired clay and damned heavy but Lee throws it like it's nothing and I hear a grunt of pain that has a certain someone joining me on the floor.

"What's he doing here!" Anna's asks and now there's a light bulb going off in my head about just what Lee wanted to have a chat with Jack and me that we never did get around to having.

"Lee, put some god damned clothes on. Logan, git yer ass in her! Baby! Go get some money outta Momma's purse for the swear jar."

Lee finally notices her state of undress as she blushes every shade of red, dashing back into the bathroom from where she came. My baby holds up a twenty and I think that's enough and interest for whatever else slips out in the next ten minutes. Getting to my feet so I can get an explanation of just what the hell is going on, Logan's on the hook because I'm sure as hell not going to interrogate my baby girl.

"Over twelve fucking years Logan, and you just knock on my fucking door!" Ah heck, I'm staring to wonder if a twenty is gonna cover it after all.

"I'm sorry." He says soft and quiet, sounding plenty hurt standing there looking like it hasn't been twelve years because he looks the same, and I know I just ruined my makeup as I start crying.

"No. No, no, no. Sorry ain't even a start. You don't even fucking know what I've been through..."

That's when he pulls out a fucking cell phone that I recognize instantly, I helped him pick it out one day at the mall when he was just gonna grab the first thing the salesperson tried to pawn off on him. He dials a number I haven't forgotten, puts in a password that I probably could have guess, and he plays the first message on speaker.

"...I don't even know what hospital we're at!"

And I'm just a confused kid all over again playing at being an adult, pregnant and emotional and I'm watching the man I love...the father of my baby girl die. I'm dizzy and I can't even breath and I don't even know how to react, then I feel a hand take mine and I know it's my Anna May. I don't even remember walking to the sofa, but when I can see again I got her all up in my arms and we're both a mess of tears. Jubilee's still in the bathroom and from the crying I can hear I can tell she ain't much better than us.

"There's a whole lot more and I've listened to every last one of them, I've listened to them so many times I don't think I'll ever forget 'em no matter how long I live. Don't know where to start other than sayin' I'm sorry, I'm sorry I wasn't there when ya needed me. Both of you." He says soft and quiet, staring at his hands sitting one of those bar stools me and Lee found.

Every word hurts and I just wanna scream at him to leave, but staring into his eyes I can tell something must have happened that had him not be able there when I, when we all needed him. And all it takes for me to remember the last twelve years and how far I've come is to look into my daughter's eyes, and not a day goes by that I don't think that she didn't go getting them from her Daddy. Kissing and hugging her with a whisper that everything's alright, it's easier to look up at Logan now that I'm ready to practice every good lesson I've ever preached to my baby, starting with forgiveness.

"Anna May, I'd like ya to meet Logan. Logan, this is my daughter, my baby girl Anna May." And that's all I ever wanted to say to him ever since I found out I was gonna be a Momma.

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	7. Chapter 7

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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"Ya sure ya don't mind me comin' along to yer shindig?"

Glaring at Logan with in open threat that I just might use the bottle of wine as a weapon, thankfully it had the desired effect of shutting him up. If Lee were here she'd probably crack a joke about alcohol abuse, actually if she were here she'd probably be the one to try and KO him with the magnum I had picked out. Sighing, I had to shake my head at the crazy turn my night had taken.

"It'll give us a chance to talk, we got a lot of catchin' up to do." Like just where the hell he's been all this time.

"I'm still a might worried after hearin' Jubilee is the one that's doin' the cookin'." Logan muttered.

Smacking him with another warning glare, he was in for a surprise if he thought Lee had been doing nothing but making ramen or nuking hot pockets for the last twelve years. Between her current job and her dream of being a chef at one of the hotels of New York I've barely had to do any cooking myself these days. And god if my Anna May doesn't make the cutest little sous chef when she gets to helping her Auntie Jae.

"This elevator ever gonna stop?" Logan asks with an eye to the numbers that keep climbing.

"Damn near penthouse, that's Trish Tilby alright, always aiming for the top." Was I ever glad for that, I owed my job to her ambitions.

Finally a little bell dinged and the doors open, but suddenly I'm wishing I hadn't ruined my outfit from the sobfest back at my place because there's a power couple if I ever saw one looking at us like we got off on the wrong floor. I don't need Logan's sharp ears to hear the lady sniping me and my backup outfit, making some snide remarks about the door man not doing his job.

"Let it go Logan..." I whisper as I feel him go stiff as we get off.

"Bitch." Logan growls loud enough to be heard just as the doors are about to close.

"Logan...I need you to make me a promise. The next time someone gets snarky, shut the hell up."

Walking briskly down the hall before Logan could even think of a comeback, already I'm trying to think just how I'm going to show him I'm in my thirties and not the kid he probably remembers seeing leave one day in a moving truck. I finally have a career that can support my baby girl in all the ways she deserves and just maybe I can figure out a way to help out Jubilee who's been my rock all these years. Anyway, what's that cat meme Jubilee printed up poster size for me for one Mother's day again? Oh yeah, Mama needs a drink.

"You made it!" Trish cheers as she throws open the door seconds after I knocked.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, my baby behaving herself?" I ask right off the bat, Lee and my Anna May had headed off early while I got changed.

"Like I'd tattle if she wasn't, but she's been an angel helping out in the kitchen. And just smell that!"

I can and I know Lee has forgotten about trying to impress anyone, falling back on her comfort food cooking. Everyone still seems impressed because right now my mouth is watering and I could use some of it myself, because for Lee it ain't Mac and Cheese these days when she's in a mood.

"You didn't tell me you found a date."

Trish is right in host mode as she spots Logan stepping in with me and if he doesn't remember his promise right now and let me introduce him, well...I'm armed with some stylish but sensible footwear suitable for kicking some arse among other things.

"Logan...Trish, Trish...Logan. He's an old friend that just happened to drop by unannounced, I thought we could do some catching up here." I said with a smile like I'm on camera and not a complete twisted ball of nervous and irritated when I should be celebrating.

"A pleasure, now come in, come in! Try this, my personal trainer is going to adore my new favourite chef in training. What did you call these again Jubilation?" Trish calls off to the kitchen.

"Arancini." Jubilee replies and even from here I can see she's blushing, okay...so apparently I missed the moment when Trish got the all clear to use her full name.

Enjoying one of the fried rice balls, as luck would have it there was a nice gooey piece of mozzarella inside. Looking at all the dishes that just keep coming out, each has its own recipe card looking so chic, listing the ingredients so no one is surprised, be it an allergy or an aversion to something. Seeing Logan take up a tiny skewer of grilled lamb, I can tell he's got one question on his mind as he looks to the kitchen, _She made this_?

"Try it, and maybe she'll make you a cocktail later."

Impressed, thy name is Logan. He's looking at everything with new eyes, and I can't help but smile. Snagging a bit of lamb for myself while making a little plate with some cherry tomatoes and a few other assorted veggies, I'll have to try and behave myself before I indulge in some of Lee's specialties.

"Yer sayin' she knows how ta tend bar too?" Logan asks while enjoying another skewer of lamb himself.

"She'd be a shitty bartender if she didn't." Sold, I can see his new respect for my roomie but he's SOL because Trish has dibs.

"Sorry Handsome, gotta steal your friend here for a bit. I invited a few people that she simply has to meet as the new face of Good Morning New York." Trish coos to Logan, stealing my arm and leading me off.

And that's when I notice it even with how awkward he looks standing at the buffet nibbling away on another appetizer, just how handsome he really is. I mean I always knew he was hot, but that was just a teens hormones mixed up with the weight of the world. But it's been twelve years and I've grown up, got a teen of my own on my hands, will one dinner party really be enough to catch up on anything?

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"You're pretty."

Thinking maybe he's talking to Auntie Jae, nope, he's looking at me working his Casanova with a huge smile and adorable dimples. Too bad he's like, six, seven tops. But a compliment is a compliment so that earns him an a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, what's your name?"

"Liam." Okay, give this kid an accent he's on his way to being a heartbreaker someday, you don't hang with my Auntie without learning these things.

"Anna May at your service kid. That's my Auntie Jae, and uh, Momma is somewhere...oh, there!"

I also see Sonova bee hive walking this way so I tug Auntie Jae by her chef jacket to get her attention. Wow, okay...that's a big flipping knife...

"Liam, your parents around?" Exiting stage left, I gotta get the civilians outta harms way first.

"Dad!"

Fudging Ow. Is that what I sound like when I'm yelling for Momma? Note to Self: Tone it down a notch like she's always telling me. I don't got much time to think about it as I'm getting lead off through the crowd by Liam aka the Daddy Seeking Missile.

"What is it Liam?" Daddy asks, wait, I know this guy.

"She kissed me." Liam says proudly, no good deed goes unpunished as -everyone- looks at me smiling and laughing.

"Look who's got himself a girlfriend already." Some lady says throwing me a wink.

Oh my god, kill me now. My life is over, I'm -never- gonna live this down. These are Momma's friends and coworkers or whatever and there ain't no way in hell that she isn't gonna be teasing me about this in front of all my friends once she hears about it.

"Anna May right?" Laim's Dad asks.

"Oui." French class got a lot less boring once I found out Dad was from New Orleans.

"Thanks for keeping him out of trouble, he's a real handful. I'm Josh by the way, I work with your Mom." Cool, Mom's camera man is kinda a hottie.

"Yeah, kinda thought maybe my Auntie Jae might teach him some of the words that keep the swear jar full back home." I admit, looking back to where my Auntie is pointing at this Logan guy with that big arse knife of hers.

I gotta ask Momma about him sometime and soon, talk about mixed signals. One minute she's kicking him in the twig and cherries, and the next she's all Logan this is my daughter. Looks like all it takes for my Auntie Jae to put down the knife is Logan complimenting her cooking.

"Who's he?" Josh asks, but not in that jealous way potential love interests do in the movies, that's probably for the best.

"Some dude Mom and Auntie Jae knew, like from their boarding school days. I'm thinking ex-boyfriend maybe." I don't add the times he's had his arse handed to him, gotta give him props for knowing how to take a punch and not getting mad.

But yeah, so about my spontaneous case of Foot in Mouth disease because now -everyone- is gossiping about Mom, Logan, and Auntie Jae to boot. Where's the swear jar when it's my turn to throw a couple bucks in it?

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"Yer kidding?"

"No Logan, I just got a kink for dressing up like a Chef."

At least she put the knife down, all I came looking for was a drink and to give her some well earned compliments about the spread. Okay, and maybe get a bit more info on Marie but I gotta say I was hoping she would have had a few in her by now herself. I've never seen Jubilee looking so serious before, well, that's a lie cause she looked plenty serious back at the museum.

"So yer a bartender and a Chef."

"In training, but I do tend bar, strip club." Jubilee said, taking up the knife again to slice up an onion so fast you'd think she was the one with the damn knack for healing.

"Yer serious?" There's an imagine I needed after the eye full I got back at their apartment.

"Fuck you Logan, that was a joke. It's a cocktail bar, it's even got a dress code and an age limit and membership fees." Okays, so I deserved that.

"Well, feel like whippin' me up a drink? Damn impressed by everything else I've tried." That at least gets my foot in the door or so I wager as she puts the knife back down.

"What's your poison?" Jubilee asks, and for a second there I'm worried it might end up being arsenic.

"Gin." What the hell, maybe I'll get a martini out of it.

Stepping back from the cutting board and her weapon of choice, she hits the bar to grab a bottle of Beefeater. I see the vermouth next but it ain't a bottle I recognize from the times I've felt like something a bit different from my usual choice of beer or whiskey. Well, ain't no martini I recognize as she adds a splash of something else to the mix, serving it up with a slice of orange in it, clearly remembering that I hate fruit in my drinks.

"What is it?"

"A Negroni, I figured ya wouldn't want any club soda with it. Now if you'd get the hell outta my kitchen I'm cooking here." Taking the hint and the drink, I gotta admit it ain't bad.

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Mama got her drink, enjoying Trish's balcony and the view it offers with the lady of the house, catching my breath after meeting some of the players who've been in the game way longer than me. Curled up on a lounger with my shoes off, we're enjoying that bottle of wine I brought and I'm ever so glad I didn't waste it on Logan.

"So who is he?" Great, not even on my second glass as Trish is digging for details.

"Just...an old friend, from my boarding school days."

"Oh, boarding school days." It's only a secret to those who don't go digging, and Trish wouldn't have gotten where she was without being nosy.

"We were really close once..." I whisper, wondering if we'll ever get that close again.

"Oooh, so he's the Ex you had before Remy right?" Trish asks, reaching for the wine to top up her glass.

"No, that was Bobby." Okay, so I have to laugh at the thought of just how insulted Logan would be had he heard that.

"Okay, excuse me? You passed up a piece of that for whoever this Bobby guy was?" Trish is shocked and I suppose I can't blame her.

Great, so how am I going to explain to her back in those days there was a bit more of a noticeable age difference between Logan and myself. I mean sure, now we both look as if we could have done Trig homework together, but...that's Logan. The world moves on while he's stays the same.

"It's complicated."

"Seems pretty straight forward to me, I get Jubilation drunk enough that she's not going anywhere tonight, do a little babysitting which I -never- do, and you go home and annoy the shit out of your neighbours with some uncomplicated sex." And there's the Trish I know from Office Lore.

"I haven't seen or spoken to him in twelve years!"

"Did he look this good twelve years ago?" Trish has a feline smile that tells me she's not taking no for an answer, wow, karma really is a bitch considering my meddling in Jubilee's love life.

"Actually, yeah..." Let her take that how she will, I can't tell her the truth that he's pretty much ageless.

"Okay, well...here's what I'm going to do. I'm having another one of those amazing rice balls, getting my darling Chef to mix me up something to sip on while I mingle. My offer stands to babysit, but at least you won't have to worry about your roomie." Trish leans in to ghost kisses as she gets up to leave.

But that's when I know the Universe is out to get me because in walks Logan which means he's heard ever -damn- word of my conversation with Trish. At least he has the decency to act like he hasn't, playing completely casual as he leans up against the railing for a gander at the city. So occupied on him, I hear the patio door close and the curtain drawn, I can't tell if I'm thankful or annoyed by Trish's last bit of meddling.

"I see ya managed to get Lee to mix ya a drink." Well, there's my attempt to break the ice.

"Second one, first one tasted like another." Logan chuckles, raising the glass for show.

"Thought ya hated fruit in yer drinks." Little tidbit I learned on my Eighteenth in Montreal, it seems like a lifetime ago.

"When a lady who handles a knife like she can puts fruit in it, ya drink it."

Silence falls between us like we ran out of things to say to another, except there's all too much to say like just where the hell was he? Pouring another glass of wine, maybe I shouldn't have pushed him to come. I know the real reason I did and it's every bit childish but still has a lot of merit too, I was worried if he walked out my door I'd never see him again.

"Where were you?" I finally manage to spit out, maybe the wine is helping to wet my lips.

"Hurt, lost. Took a long time ta find my way back, twelve years...still can't fucking believe it." The hurt in his voice is easy to hear, I hurt out of sympathy because I've lived those twelve years always wondering, never knowing why he wasn't there when I needed him.

Now the questions are coming too fast and I can't even pick one to ask. How hurt, why did it take so long to come back. Barefoot I slip from my seat to join him with just enough space between us to keep it comfortable, choking on one question above all the rest.

"Why didn't you call?" He reaches into his pocket for that damn cell again.

All I can think of is every message I ever left him right down to the last, and I wasn't in a good place when I made that call. That was the day my baby girl asked me where her Daddy was. I spent too much time talking with Mr. Daniels by myself that night and got a whole butt load of bad advice. I could never call Logan again after that, but seeing the phone knowing he's listened to that message I just can't help myself. I snatch it from him to hurl at the balcony, staring at the shattered pieces through my tears.

Next thing I know he's got me in his arms, hugging me just like he used to as I cry and it doesn't matter now that we got nothing to say at the moment because, because we're just two people that got hurt bad a long time ago so we're allowed to cry.

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"Ya sure ya don't mind?" It's the elevator all over again, except now I'm the one asking him.

He's stripped down to his jeans getting comfortable on the pull out, I know I'll get shit from Trish for this, but as much as I'm not ready to let go of Logan yet, there's no such thing as uncomplicated anything between us. I'll suffer her wrath in the morning when I go to pick up my daughter and my roomie, for now it's just nice to know he'll be there on the other side of the door.

"This is right comfortable compared ta some places I've slept over the years. Course, sheets are a bit of an eye sore." Logan answers with a smirk I've never forgotten.

"Lee picked them out with Anna, just be lucky you're not using what they got on their beds. Don't know how they get ta sleep, I get a headache just looking at them." I got pictures saved for blackmail, the day's gonna come when my baby girl is gonna want to forget all about them as being so childish.

"Why don't ya get some shut eye, I'm not goin' anywhere. Not unless ya serve me my shippin' papers." Logan promises.

As much as I want to believe him, I know we can't keep some promises, but for tonight I'll just pretend. Closing the door to fall against it, my thumb finds another promise someone made to me once. Remy swore to meet me at an altar and swear before God to make me Missus LeBeau, but one of the vows we'd swear on reared its ugly head before he could, _Till death do us part_.

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	8. Chapter 8

 

 

Marvel own's the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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It sounded like a good idea last night, but if there's one thing I know about waking up after a night of nights good ideas with Lee, is that's how I end up getting into the tequila shots. Standing there with my head pressed against the door trying to will myself open it, it's the only thing keeping me safe in the world I've known for the last twelve years. On the other side is a scary new one full of uncertainty and unanswered questions. Where my courage fails, how much I drank last night wins out, because let me tell you, I need to find me the little girl's room.

"Ah hell, ya better have some pants on, 'cause I'm comin' out!" Throwing open the door, I hang a quick left for the bathroom.

I could smell the coffee he put on even before opening the door, though now it was just such a tantalizing aroma that I couldn't wait to tend to business so I could fix myself a mug. Pulling open the bathroom door, I freeze, and so did Logan, right buck fucking naked.

"Holy shit!"

The Logan I knew was unflappable, and probably would have had some smarmy remark to say right about now. He wouldn't have grabbed the nearest thing to cover up his indecency, which just so happened to be Jubilee's gaudy neon green towel with pink polka dots. The Logan I knew would have just stood there wholly sure of himself, waiting for me to decide if I'm coming or going.

"All yers." This new Logan said in passing, covering his balls with Lee's towel as he's headed for the kitchen, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a look at his ass.

Remembering I gotta tinkle, I slam the door behind me so I can take refuge in my new safe place to hide again. Except as I sit there tending to my damn near burst bladder, all I can think about is the eye full I just got, and now I'm needing me a shower before I get that mug of coffee, a very cold shower.

Well that lasts for all of ten teeth chattering seconds before I crank the heat up and start my day, feeling refreshed as I dress in my housecoat I'm so glad hadn't been anywhere near Jubilee's towel. Pressing my head against the door, once again I have to work up the gumption to go out into my own damned apartment.

"You got some pants on now, Mister?

"No." Logan answers, actually sounding a little amused with himself, prick.

"Why the hell not?!" Jubilee's gonna either wanna burn that towel or auction it off on Ebay.

"Cause you got 'em." Logan calls back, oh...he's right, there they are laying next to his boxers.

"Oh, just git yer ass in here and have yer shower already! Just, uh, use this towel...it's the guest one." Last thing I need is him accidentally grabbing my baby girl's towel, actually matter of fact, "Ya know what, just wait a gosh darn minute."

Grabbing everything that I can't afford to just go throwing out, I toss it all on my bed figuring I'll clean the bathroom later with a whole hell o' a lot of bleach. Too bad there ain't any of that Mind Bleach stuff Lee's always going on about anytime she see's shit she didn't wanna see. Not that the view wasn't nice, it's just that...fuck, why's this place only got one shower? Because right now I'm needing me another cold one.

Deciding instead to have a little hair of the dog as Logan showers, it's a hefty a belt of Bailey's I have with my coffee. Catching up on my texts as I breakfast on ice cream, with Anna having spent the night at Trish's I can indulge in a few bad habits without being a hypocrite.

Hearing the creak of them shit faucets the Super ain't ever fixed, Logan comes on out after a few minutes dressed only in his jeans and Lee's towel, which he has slung over his shoulder like some model. And that gives me an idea. Swipe. Camera. Click. Options. Send, dither, dither, dither, dammit how does my Anna make this look so easy. Hah! Success, and sent! Well, that was cathartic.

"Do I wanna know?" Seems Logan remembers what I look like when I'm up to no good.

"That's Lee's towel."

Well, he looks down to where I kicked him yesterday, damn near breaking my foot doing it, too, and I can't help but think he's recalling Lee's pitching arm. With a shrug, though, he throws that towel over his neck to have a look at my breakfast and the bottle I got sitting next to my coffee mug, finding something funny in all of it as he smirks.

"Sorry 'bout..." Logan says, or at least tries to but I guess he knows when to shut up as I glare at him out of my embarrassment.

"I shoulda probably knocked, I didn't even look ta see where ya were. 'Round these parts, I'm normally the first one in and outta the bath in the morning."

"Maybe I shoulda ran the shower before strippin' down, here I was tryin' ta be quiet like." Logan adds, and slowly the conversation turns into something a hell of a lot less awkward than it had been.

"Hell, maybe I just need to put a new lock on the door. Broke the old one off after Anna locked herself in when she was three..." Sipping my coffee, I get lost down memory lane.

More than twelve years in this shitty little apartment that was supposed to be a stepping stone, but somewhere along the way it became my home. I remember Mother Days past, and all the times my baby girl made me breakfast with her Auntie helping. I remember the Christmas Eve when I had to explain to my little girl that Santa wasn't a burglar just because he had to come in off the fire escape since we don't got no fireplace for him to take the chimney down.

There's the Thanksgiving back before Lee learned to cook, the one that had the two of us fretting over our first turkey we cooked together. Birthday parties, New Years, and all the quiet nights in that had the three of us crashing on the sofa watching those awful children's DVDs they make for kids just to punish us parents. Crying again, I can only think of how there should have been a couple of very important fellas there for every last one of those memories, Daddy Remy and Uncle Logan.

"Where were you?" I just have to know now.

Well, Logan's on his feet slowly walking to the door, and I'm halfway out of my chair thinking he's about to just walk out of my life again when I see it. Running his hand down the door frame, he's looking at all the years he's been away, marked there by every birthday he's missed in that tradition of just seeing how much taller my little girl got each year.

"I found it, I found my past. I remember all of it, and let me tell ya...they ain't just whistling dixie when they say to be careful what ya wish for, Darlin'. It just took me a while ta remember the fella I'd been for all that time after I lost it." Logan said in a voice soft as silk as he walked all around my apartment.

"What do you mean it took you a while to remember who you were?" Fear's creeping into my voice and I just can't keep it out.

"I woke up after getting hurt real bad remembering everything right up ta the day I forgot who I had been. The Wolverine, you, the school and everyone? That got buried beneath that old life of mine, and it took me a long while ta find my way back home. And by the time I did? Well, it turned out a lot o' folk had gone off make a life for themselves."

Seeing Logan staring at all the pictures I have on my walls of that very life I had to go and make, they were all the moments that made it worth living, some happy, others sad, but all of them none I'd ever let take from me, not with how proud my Anna May made me each day.

"But your back now, right? You..." I ask with so much hurt in my voice I can't believe I even managed to whimper out the warbled words.

"I ain't goin' nowhere unless someone serves me my shippin' papers." Logan swears again, just like he did last night.

Except today I can believe him because I now know where he's been, I know he's been trying to find his way home this whole time. I can believe he hasn't been running this whole time except the only way that counts, back into my life. I'm out of my chair and in his arms, and I don't care how much I'm crying now. I've got a lot of interest owed from those years I didn't have his shoulder for the times I just didn't want to be strong, for the times I couldn't be strong.

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"Did you and Momma have sex?"

I'm glad the kid at least had the decency to wait until I swallowed my coffee before asking that. Just the same, though, Marie is choking on her crepes, and by the look in Jubilee's eyes I get the feeling I should be keeping an eye on the cutlery. From the mouth of babes ain't got nothing on this.

"No." I say noncommital like and that seems enough for the munchkin.

"Anna May D'Ancanto! You don't just ask that at the breakfast table!" Marie's lecturing like I've never had the chance to see, so I just lean back in my chair and enjoy the show.

"Since when? You're always asking Auntie Jae that." Anna replies and I figure she's got them there with how much the two of them are blushing.

"Well, as o' right now it's a new rule, and that goes for everyone." Marie says laying down the law between her munchkin and her roommate.

"If a new rule is going into effect, then under the old rule I declare that I didn't have sex either last night either." Trish remarks, "Just a lot of cuddling."

Marie looks about ready to go hide while Anna May looks like she's getting about as much a kick out of this as I am. As for Jubilee, well, I get the feeling I'm gonna have to have a chat with her myself sometime soon. I try and ignore her and Trish whispering, but words like _I'm sorry_ and _just so confused right now_ drift on over.

"What say we go tackle those dishes, kid?" It's as good an excuse as any to give them some privacy, and it'll give me a chance to get to know the little lady.

Anna looks from her Momma to her Auntie and Trish, I can see the gears working in her head as she starts to gather up plates and cutlery. It's like the museum all over again, just watching and listening and making up her mind for herself. It reminds me a lot of a girl I knew a long time ago, one who noticed things no one else did and asked questions that cut through the meat and on right down to the bone.

"Did you go to boarding school with Momma and Auntie Jae?" I don't even got the sink full yet and she's at it.

"Something like that." I admit, right along with trying to figure out the white lie they've been fibbing about their past.

"It wasn't a normal boarding school was it?" Anna asks as she's playing with the water streaming from the tap.

"What makes ya say that?" Maybe dishes was a bad idea, 'cause I just got caught in the crosshairs of a pint-sized Spanish Inquisition.

"I looked up what school you were from. I also know what Gifted means, and I know Momma and Auntie Jae were Gifted, at least now I do. So was Dad." Well shit, whaddya gonna say to that I'm having to ask myself.

Somewhere on that long road back after waking up as Jimmy Howlett again, there was a change in the wind. By the time I got back to Xavier's, his Dream was a bit more of a waking one, and even with my grudge against him I can't help but wish he coulda seen all this for himself.

For all the lip service and the laws the politicians pass, the ones that go affording Mutants with all the rights and freedoms we're due, the world is still just as messed up as ever. Just because someone says to get along doesn't stop people hating on others different from them, just like religion, race and everything else before it.

"Did they get kicked out?" Well shit if that doesn't hurt worse than that chunk of clay I took to the head right after a kick to the nuts.

"No one kicked them out."

"Then why are you the first one from there that I've met?" That's a question I don't know if I'm the right man to field, but it has me with a few of my own.

Looking back at the breakfast table, I see the ladies chatting up a storm and smiling again. Hell, I don't got much to worry about right now with how Jubilee's sitting on Trish's lap, looking herself just as soft and delicate as I know she can be when you treat her like a lady.

"If I had to guess Kiddo, I'd say they wanted a bit of a normal life for all o' ya, and if there's one thing I know it's that normal is hard to come by back there."

Seems like that's a good enough answer, seeing as how Anna's back to drying plates and stacking them up on the island. I get the feeling the reason for the cease-fire is just so she can reload, and whaddya know if I don't find myself looking down into her curious eyes just as I pull the plug on the sink.

"Can you tell me about my Dad, like...stuff Momma won't tell me?" Looking so much like her mother, I can't say no, and I reckon I won't ever be able to.

"Sure, kid."

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	9. Chapter 9

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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Roughly Fourteen Years Ago...

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Throwing out the kick stand of his Harley, Logan gave an appreciative look to the collection of cars and bikes that littered the lot. Some looked like full restoration jobs in between the different stages of tear down, body work and paint jobs, others just looked to be in for the love that kept them purring. Recognizing one trouble maker sitting at the front desk flipping through a car magazine, Jubilee looked bored as she blew a bright pink bubble.

"Surprised they don't got ya earning your pay giving the cars a wash." Logan said to catch her attention, in these parts his Harley just didn't cut it with all the rides to pick from.

"I don't do detailing, I'm the girl you leave the keys with. What brings ya here? Cause I know you don't trust anyone to touch your baby but you." Jubilee asked, leaning against the counter with her low cut top giving him an eye full.

"Looking for a pretty boy mechanic, you seen him around here?"

"Wow, you get bored of me already? Find yourself a new friend with the same kind benefits?"

Growling at the little lady giving him so much grief, Logan left her off at the counter as he was in no mood to go playing her games today, not after getting a text from LeBeau about wanting to have a talk. Heading down the bays, he spotted Remy working on an engine of an old Charger done up to the nines.

"Gotta say, LeBeau, I didn't expect ya to hold this gig. Figured you'd run off with the first pretty little thing that caught your eye." Whether it was a car or a lady, Logan figured on the first but wasn't about to hold his breath about the latter.

Lighting up a smoke, Logan leaned up at the door to watch Remy work. He had to admit the kid was good with his hands, that gentle touch of his pickpocket fingers served him well once they down under the hood.

"I got something more beautiful waiting for me at home, neh?"

Marie, the tie that bound them together, both loving her in their own ways. Try as he might to hate the kid for dating her, Remy treated Marie like royalty. And for all his flirtatious ways, he only ever kissed his special lady. Looking back to the service desk, Jubilee had been right all along, it all came down to what Remy did with his chance.

"It's about time for my break, and you be doing me no favours with that cigar of yours, here I am trying to quit that bad habit of mine."

Stubbing out his cigar, that was something else LeBeau was working on mending, one among the many of his bad habits.

"There's a decent bar and grill down the road, what say we get a bite and you can have that talk you're there." Logan said, the breeze bringing the aroma of the smoked brisket the joint was famous for.

"That be a great idea, let me go wash up these filthy hands and then we take my car." Remy offered, "Why don't you go find out what Jubilee wants as a bit of take away, she's chained to the desk waiting on a call about an engine we needed yesterday."

As much as Logan didn't want a reason to go talking to Jubilee just yet, he headed on up to the desk where she looked busy with a call that had her holding the phone between her ear and shoulder while looking something up on the computer.

"LeBeau and me are gettin' a bite, want us to bring ya back something?" Logan asked quietly as not to interrupt her.

"Surprise me, oh, and a cherry coke." Jubilee hastily answered, holding the phone to her chest for a second before getting back to the call.

Waiting on LeBeau by his car, a mint looking late Eighties Lincoln he had won in a card game, or so that story went, the man himself had ditched his coveralls to get cleaned up as best he could. The grease under his nails was something that just never washed off of the hands of a man who made his living messing in the guts of cars.

A five minute drive had them finding a couple of stools up at the counter, ordering up two of the house's specials, with one meant to go. Ordering himself a beer, it was the cherry coke that had the lady looking a might curious at him. Placing an order for wings and a beer to follow suit, Remy looked like a man with something on his mind, far too quiet for his usual self who never knew when to shut up.

"You've known Marie as long as anyone, say you had a question you have to ask her that you maybe be afraid of her answer, how would you do it?" Remy asked.

Feeling a bit shocked to hear LeBeau asking him for advice, Logan enjoyed a sip of his beer while he mulled over the question for some serious thought. He owed the kid that much for putting in a real effort to clean up his act.

"There a reason you ain't asking Lee about this?" If there was someone Remy usually went to for those kinds of questions, it was Jubilee.

"Maybe because this be as close as I get to asking Marie's Pappy for his permission."

Just to prove he wasn't bluffing or pulling his leg, Remy reached into his shirt pocket for a little box Logan had mistaken to be a pack of smokes. It wasn't anything flashy, just a little gold band with a diamond in the middle, but he recognized the jeweller it was from having gone there for the odd gift or two over the years.

"You planning to make an honest woman outta her?"

"She make an honest man out of me, I think it be time I do the same."

The smug prick he usually hated was nowhere to be found in the sincere smile Remy had plastered over his face, dipping his shades low enough to flash his red on black eyes that looked completely smitten by the idea of his proposal.

"Last I checked, ya don't gotta go asking me dick all, it's all up to her to make that choice." Logan grunted, downing a hearty swallow of his beer that had him thinking he might need another to wash down burger.

"I know you and me, we get off to a rocky start. But I think I be growing on you, so I hope if she say yes, then you and me, maybe we can see if we can't be friends."

It wasn't to say they didn't have a lot of shared interests, they both liked a good cold beer and were known to hustle a game of cards now and again, each through their own means. There wasn't much he wouldn't do for Marie, either. She helped him be a better man, too, something she was doing for LeBeau now all through loving him. Raising his glass, Logan waited for Remy to take his, a toast made between them saying everything that didn't need be said.

"Just keep it on the straight and narrow, bub."

Thinking back to Remy's original question though, Logan found a pen and started drawing out a bit of a map from memory on a napkin. X marked the spot of one little stretch of road he knew Marie liked for the view it offered. Folding it up neatly, he passed it off, and that was all the help he was going to give the punk. Everything else was up to that sweet talking Cajun.

"Thank you, Logan, now I just have one last favour to ask. You think you could cover for me, I seem to have forgotten my wallet back at the shop."

"Prick."

Laughing just the same, somehow he figured he knew what Marie's answer would be, so paying for lunch wasn't too hard to swallow, not like his pride. That would be a lot harder, but he'd try to play nice and give the kid a chance and see if they couldn't become friends, all for her.

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Present

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The Munchkin's pretty quiet. There were probably some other stories I could have told her about her pops that I don't think Marie would go telling her any time soon, either, but I'm still on thin ice as it is. The last thing I need is to go giving either Marie or Jubilee another reason to use me as a punching bag again.

"Mom still has it."

For a minute there I think she's talking about the ring, but I figure out what Anna means when she starts drawing it out on a napkin, what with having taken a walk to a local greasy spoon for a milkshake and cup of coffee. She's trying for memory, so I oblige her with the rest, wondering to myself just how it'd hold up against the original. Marie always was one to make keepsakes out of the strangest things.

"Ever been up there?" I ask, only because it's a little too close to the school.

"No, but Momma said it was a map to someplace special that she'd take me some day."

It wasn't much longer after that when LeBeau and her headed on out to go make a life for themselves, just the two of them. That's a day I'll never forget, the school felt empty after that, and I found myself in bed with Jubilee for the last time before I hit the road. We were both pretty lonely that night, and that's probably something else I shouldn't go telling pipsqueak here, not with how curious she's looking up at me again.

"I'll try and think up a few more stories to tell ya about your pops, kiddo, the stuff yer Momma ain't likely to tell ya 'till your older anyway."

"Why did he ask you though, I mean, you're around Mom's age right?"

Sharp as a tack this one, and that's a damned good question too. Something tells me bullshit won't fly with her.

"Part of what makes me the man I am is that I don't age much, been carrying around this mug for a long time now. Your mom wasn't much older than you are now when I first ran into her. But that's a story I should save for later, maybe see if she doesn't want to tell her side o' it."

Laughlin City was a hell of a ways away from Meridian, and given how starved Marie was when I met her, I bet she was damned near ready to go making a few more mistakes of the likes that had her climbing into the back of my trailer. And just like every time I'm reminded of that, I'm glad I was there so she didn't have to.

"So, how old are you then?"

"Old enough to have fought in a Civil War I didn't have much business being in, seeing as how I'm Canadian."

It takes her a second to figure that out, but when she does her eyes go plenty wide, but that's a secret between us until I get a chance to having a proper chat with Marie.

"Did you fight in any other wars?"

"Most every big one right up into Vietnam."

"Why?"

"Fighting seemed to be the only thing I was ever good at, but as it turned out, even this ol' dog is able to learn a few new tricks."

Sipping at her shake in thought, Anna seems to be satisfied with that answer as I got plenty enough time to get back to my cup of coffee, which a waitress has done me the honour of freshening up. Having a look at the time, I'm about to see about borrowing kiddo's phone to see how Marie is doing when it rings.

"Hi Mom, yeah I'm with him, he bought me a milkshake. You'll walk me home right? Mom wants to know."

"Like ya had to ask, kid."

"Yeah, he will. Okay, we'll see ya at home. Love and hugs, bye."

Settling up with the bill being as I got a kid to get home, we hit the street. This time though she's holding my hand that I've got hitched in a pocket by my thumb. Taking hers in mine more proper like, it feels smaller than I would have ever thought it was, and plenty delicate. She has a smile for me as I look down at her, seeing her Mother in her again that it's easy to imagine the beauty she'll grow up to be some day.

Thinking back to the photos that hung all over the walls back at Marie's place, the life she had to make for herself wasn't too bad of one if she went raising a fine little lady like the one I got the honour of walking home. I'm glad again that she didn't have to go doing it alone, neither, that she had someone with her the whole time lending a hand. But maybe it's time I see if I can't offer a hand of my own.

"Think we got enough time so you can help me go buy a new phone?"

"You lost your phone?" Anna asks, making it sound like it's the dumbest thing I could go and do.

"It was an old piece of junk, time to upgrade I think." That's a bit of a white lie with just enough truth in it to explain why I don't got a phone no more.

Getting to telling her how her Momma helped me pick out my last phone, it's time to see what she's willing to tell me about herself over a bit of shopping.

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"I really liked that towel, too, ya know?" Jubilee grumbles as she helps me pack up the pull out.

"You can always wash it."

"You told me he covered his junk with it, I don't need that image every time I go to dry my face."

"Gross Lee, I'm so glad he's taking Anna the long way home now."

By the sound of things there's a tradition in the making if Logan has to go ask a D'Ancanto for help when he needs a new phone, that I don't even feel guilty about smashing his old one now.

"Man, back during our boarding school days I could have made a mint off this thing." Jubilee muses, holding her towel by pinched fingers as she tosses it into the trash.

I have to laugh at that, because I half expected her to try and Ebay it or something. I can even see the listing now, gently used gaudy ass towel, the picture included of Logan looking like David in denim with the towel in question thrown over his shoulder. That's an image leftover from my morning that isn't helping me one bit, but it's technically the afternoon now, so I snag a hard lemonade from the fridge and decide to get down to cleaning out the bathroom like I swore I'd do.

"Wow, what's on your mind, Roguey?" Jubilee teases as she follows my lead, she still has a few hours before her shift, and then it's off to her night class.

"It's what I'm trying to get outta my mind, thank you very much, and that's Logan's buck naked ass." Well, there was plenty of full frontal, too, before he got to walking on by me.

"Hey, at least he hasn't seen you naked." Jubilee huffs, cracking open her hard lemonade for a sip.

"The way you tell it, that wasn't the first time." That was a story that came out over a bottle of Jack one night when my Anna May was still in diapers.

Jubilee isn't one to get flustered too often, but looking back at her I can see I should have kept my big mouth shut. Cleaning the bathroom can wait while I go give my best friend a hug to say I'm sorry.

"I still feel stupid about that." Jubilee says with a broken laugh as I hug her.

"Sleeping with Logan?"

"First time? God no, he rocked my world! Just all the times after when, but fuck, I dunno, it always felt nice laying with him there making me feel all kinds of tingly and stuff. All I can remember now was how awkward it was when one of us had to leave, which always happened."

"And here I told Trish just last night that there's no such thing as uncomplicated sex."

"Uh, why?"

"Because she was trying to convince me I should have let Logan rock my world last night..."

Looking plenty puzzled as she digests my little secret, Jubilee bumps her head against mine like we always do in these moments, of which we've had a lot. It wasn't just me learning to change diapers and sooth a crying baby, Jubilee has always been there for me as the only babysitter I ever trusted.

"He is pretty fucking hot, ya know." Jubilee laughs, her breath heady with spiked lemonade.

"You're not helping!" Expressing my vexation with a feral growl fit for the man himself, all I can think about is how nice it felt every time he held me since walking back into my life.

Staring up at me, a little spark of understanding blossoms in Jubilee's eyes, her usual shield of snark and sarcasm falling away to make the moment ever more intimate. Moments like this for her are so rare that I was shocked to see her so comfortable with Trish.

"Just don't make my mistake. Take it slow, cause I know he still cares about you. How you were doing was the first thing he asked about after we ran into each other at the museum."

Proving I've got an infinite amount of tears, they tickle as they roll down my cheeks as I smile dumbly at the person in my life who's the closest thing I've got to a sister. Kissing away my tears to go and give me one last bump to the head, Jubilee pulls away slowly until I can let go.

"I should probably grab a shower before you get down to some serious cleaning in there, as I wouldn't want to go messing it up on ya right after you cleaned it."

"Lemme go get your stuff outta my room first. I didn't want Logan using anything he shouldn't be, not after what he did to your towel. Speaking of which, you can borrow mine."

"Let me guess, my defiled towel was what gave you that idea."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! Hurry up, I know you gotta get all dolled up for your shift."

"Gawd, yes mom..." Jubilee groans in a perfect imitation of my own daughter.

It's just what I need for a laugh with how serious things just got. But there's that advice she gave me which I really needed, to take it slow, just one day at a time. I don't need to go jumping into anything I'm not ready for. I got my Anna May to think about first, so my love life can take the back seat for the wild ride I got ahead of me. But, hey? At least I know I got my best friend's blessing, and that means something given how paper thin the walls of our apartment are.

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End file.
